Prince in Training
by TheseusLives
Summary: This is a sequel to Last Summer. Percy is in Atlantis training to control his out-of-control powers. Will he succeed and what adventures will he have in his undersea kingdom.
1. My New Home

Chapter 1: My New Home

**Percy's POV**

I really hate this head band thing, but I have to wear it because it detaches my mind from my connection with Theseus. I have been wearing it since I arrived in Atlantis. No time to think now, damn it I thought as I was hit by another energy blast from Triton's trident.

"Percy, keep your concentration, you can do it." Triton said. I was trying to block the energy blasts with a shield of water, but I was getting pretty tired.

"Can we stop now, we've been training for two hours straight?" I asked.

"Alright, but we're going to start this all over tomorrow." Triton said.

It's been two weeks since I left Camp Half Blood and I miss everyone very much. Poseidon and Triton say that my training is going well, but I don't know. Atlantis is beautiful, the rebuilding effort over the past couple of years has been amazing. The city is made of a beautiful mix of dark basalt stone intermingled with white marble. In some parts of the city the buildings are made with golden sandstone, which adds an even more unique quality to the city. I love the city, but it's not home like New York or camp. You see I now live in an underwater city, I can stay underwater without needing to breathe air because I'm a son of Poseidon, but it's weird going so long without breathing air. Actually, it makes me feel incredible, I'm so connected to the sea now and all the life within it, but I still miss my family, friends and Annabeth, especially her. If Tyson and Triton weren't here I would go crazy. They are both really good brothers, but more than that they have become my best friends as well.

"Percy your last training session went very well brother. You're doing a great job controlling your power and most importantly your anger." Triton said as we relaxed by the door of the training facility.

"Thanks, I don't feel that different." I said.

"Don't worry I can see your progress and it's very encouraging." Triton said.

"I think I'll walk back to my room, I'll see you later brother." I said as I walked out of the training facility and made my way to my quarters. I passed a long hallway with beautiful arched windows that looked out onto the sea floor, the light from the windows illuminated the sea and many beautiful multi-colored fish were attracted to the light. The mix of colors was like an undersea living rainbow. As I walked to my quarters I tell myself that I've been exiled from home, but actually I live in a incredible palace. My quarters have a master bedroom, bathroom, kitchen, dining area and a living room. The walls are white marble and I have large windows that look out into the beautiful depths of the sea, the light from my windows causes the sea to look a beautiful shade of blue. My quarters are so nice it's like I have my own apartment. I'm really not exiled, or a prisoner or banished. My dad says that I'm on an adventure of self-discovery, that does sound better than forced training to control my out of control powers. Whatever the case may be I'm a prince of the sea in training, I guess. Hey, that does sound alright, I'll go with that one for the time being.

I reached my quarters and sat on my bed. Being underwater I can't play my guitar or draft up some ship designs, but my dad did give me this computer like terminal and I can use it to draw ship designs. It's pretty cool. Suddenly a light flashed and my father appeared in front of me.

"Hello Percy." Poseidon said, he was wearing his typical Bermuda shorts and Hawaiian shirt.

"Hi, dad." I said.

"Triton says your training is coming along well." Poseidon said.

"I guess, he says it is." I said.

"You don't believe it's working?" My father asked curiously.

"I don't feel different." I said.

"You may not feel different, it's not like you were always ready to explode with anger, it only effects you during times of duress or stress." Poseidon said.

"Dad did you come here to check up on me or did you have another reason?" I asked.

"Well, how would you like to go to Olympus next week for a few days?" Poseidon asked.

"That would be great, but will it adversely affect my training?" I asked.

"No, two days won't hurt anything." Poseidon said.

"Dad, will Theseus and Athena be there?" I asked.

"Of course they will be. They'll be happy to see you." Poseidon said.

"Great, I'm in I can't wait to see them, thanks Dad." I said.

"You're welcome, I have to go, take care son." Poseidon said as he disappeared in a sudden surge of water.

Suddenly I heard a knock on my door. I walked over and opened the foor and floating in the doorway was my new friend Aquillas the merman.

"Percy are you ready for your daily swim?" Aquillas asked. Aquillas and I for the past week have been swimming around the vicinity of Atlantis. There are many sea creatures to see and I have already started to make new friends.

"Sure, let's go." I said. Aquillas and I raced out of the palace and swam full speed to the outskirts of the city. The light from the city illuminated the ocean around it for at least two hundred yards. So we usually stay in the lighted portion of the sea, but today I wanted to travel into the darker reaches of the deep. As a son of Poseidon I have great eyesight in the dark of the deep ocean, but I also have a sixth sense about obstacles almost like sonar or echo location. Then we saw a pod of dolphins and began to race with them. We swam through massive shipwrecks that looked like they had been there for a hundred years and through caves and other rock outcrops. The rocks of the ocean depths are usually a very dark brown almost black in color. The sea is a very dark blue at these depths and without my sixth sense I would never be able to make my way safely through all of the undersea obstacles. We swam straight passed another pod of dolphins and then they joined us in the race. That seemed odd to me. Usually dolphin pods avoid each other, somethings going on I thought. I guess Aquillas had the same idea, "This isn't right Percy, somethings up." Aquillas said.

"I agree" I said, then I saw a large dark figure appear behind us, it was huge.

"What is that?" Aquillas yelled.

"I don't know, but we need to get closer to the surface for more light." I said as we ascended a hundred feet closer to the surface. The beams of light were visible through the ocean water, the light illuminated us and the water around us. The water was now a beautiful green-blue color. One thing I did notice was the total lack of sea life, almost like something scared them away. The large figure appeared behind us again, but this time I could see it clearly. My heart almost stopped beating when I saw it, but I continued to swim faster and I could sense Aquillas's fear. The creature that was behind us was a shark that looked a little different than a great white in appearance, but it was huge. It was mostly gray in color, but a little darker gray than a white shark and without the white underbelly. The shark had to be at least sixty feet in length with teeth longer than my hand.

"I can't believe it, its a Megalodon!" Aquillas said.

"That's impossible they've been extinct for twenty thousand years." I said.

"Tell him that!" Aquillas said. The shark swam incredibly fast for such a large creature and it was after us. It wasn't after dolphins or whales which were it's usual diet. It was after Aquillas and I, or was it just after me?

"Aquillas we need to split up, at the next rock outcrop I want you to veer to the left and head to the surface and I will head to the right and go deep, alright?" I said.

"Percy are you sure?" Aquillas asked.

"Yes, it's an order." I said. We reached the rock outcrop and split up and as I suspected the shark followed me. Great I thought, why does this stuff always happen to me?

The shark stayed on my tail, I couldn't lose it, I willed the currents to move me as fast as possible. I concentrated and willed my body to be stronger so I could survive in deeper water. I used the techniques that Triton taught me and I kept my anger in check. I raced further out to sea and deeper into the ocean until I was thousands of feet below the surface. I could feel the shark still behind me, but it was too dark to see it. I raced toward the mid-oceanic ridge. I had an idea, but I would have to find the perfect spot to pull it off. I could feel the heat first before I could see the light from the underwater volcanoes. The volcanoes illuminated the sea with a reddish orange color that off-set the usual dark blue of the deep ocean. Once I was over the ridge I swam at full speed along it. I could see the head of the shark as it was illuminated by the lava flows. I needed a big volcano to pull this off and then I came to an area where the ridge met an oceanic plate boundary, it's a good thing that I liked geology because I was about to use that knowledge to save my ass. Where the ridge and the plate boundaries met stood a huge underwater volcano. It had to be several thousand feet in height off the ocean floor, it was made from the dark rock that comprised the mid-oceanic ridge. It was smoldering, but it didn't look like it had erupted in a while. I raced forward as fast as I could and hid behind the volcano. I saw the shark slow and it swam around it's surroundings looking for me. I focused completely on the volcano and as I began to initiate small earthquakes along it's base I saw the shark begin to slowly swim toward me. I felt the earthquakes I created start to build, the pressure from the lava within the volcano was taking over. I could feel the pressure increase and I knew it would only be a matter of seconds before an eruption occurred. Then the shark saw me and swam at me full speed. It reached the top of the volcano and I couldn't wait anymore, I turned to swim and then I forced a new earthquake near the top of the volcano. The shark swam over the volcano and then the mountain exploded sending rock, steam and lava straight up. The explosion engulfed the shark and I could see it's body covered in lava and then I felt the explosion hit me and I was pushed hundreds of yards away from the mountain. My back was on fire and then I realized that it actually was. I swam to the sea floor and hit the golden color sand hard. I rolled on the sea floor and the heat on my back subsided, but the pain was terrible.

I swam back to Atlantis slowly as I was tired and my back was killing me. My vision started to blur and I started to fade in and out of consciousness. I looked and I saw a figure swim towards me, but I blacked out before I could tell who or what it was.

I awoke with a jump and nearly fell out of my bed. Was this all a bad dream and then I saw my dad standing at the foot of my bed.

"Percy, thank Zeus your awake." Poseidon said.

"Dad, ow my back!" I said.

"Yes, you have third degree burns on your back, but they should heal nicely" Poseidon said.

"What about Aquillas?" I asked.

"He's fine, worried about you mostly. That was a brave and stupid thing you did going up against that huge shark." Poseidon said.

"It seemed like the right thing to do considering it was after me and not Aquillas." I said.

"It was after you. You see this was the last of the Megalodon sharks, it was Oceanus's pet. We had trapped it in a underwater cave and I thought it was dead, but clearly it escaped and wanted revenge. It sensed that you were my son and so it took out it's revenge on you. I'm sorry son." Poseidon said.

"It's alright, I did help kill Oceanus so I should expect this to happen." I said.

"Well Amphitrite is very worried about you so do what she says, alright?" Poseidon said.

"I will dad, she doesn't have to worry." I said.

"Hey, she considers you to be one of her boys so she's going to mother you, get use to it." Poseidon said with a smile.

"Ok dad!" I said.

"Good, now I have to help Hephaestus put out that underwater volcano you started, but no worries it would have erupted sooner or later. Take care and get well my boy." Poseidon said as he disappeared into a green-blue mist.

I felt tired again, I closed my eyes and dreamed of camp, I wonder what they are doing right now. I drifted off to sleep thinking about life there and my girl Annabeth.

_**Hope you enjoyed this first chapter to "Prince in Training" , is this a good title many reviewers did not want me to use the title Exiled, so let me know if this new title works, thanks to you all as usual. I updated this chapter a little to provide a few more descriptions on locations such as Atlantis, the open ocean and the volcanoes.**_


	2. Missing Seaweed Brain

Chapter 2: Missing Seaweed Brain

_**AN: Set over two weeks after Percy left camp for Atlantis**_

**Annabeth's POV**

Capture the flag was yesterday, Zeus versus Hades. Of course the Athena cabin was allied with the Zeus cabin, which was led by Thalia of course. The Hades team won, to know small part to my non-participation. You see, Malcolm led the Athena cabin into battle not me. I haven't left my cabin except for meals in two weeks. I have been too busy with my plans for Olympus and my preparations for my first year at Columbia University. Someone just knocked on my door bringing me back to reality.

"Come in!" I said. The door opened and Thalia Grace walked into my room. She was dressed in her usual black Green Day shirt and black cut-off jean shorts with black sneakers. Her jet black hair stuck up in punk rocker style. Then I noticed it, her left eye was swollen and dark blue. She had a very bad black eye.

"Brain, see what happens when you don't help me!" Thalia yelled.

"I'm sorry Thals, I was too busy with work." I said defensively.

"You've never been too busy for capture the flag before, you haven't left this cabin in days, Chiron had to get someone else to teach ancient Greek. He's not dead, he'll be back. You know he would want you to have fun your last summer at camp." Thalia said.

"Whose he?" I asked, knowing darn well who she was talking about.

"Your a daughter of Athena, don't play dumb with me Annie. You know I'm talking about a certain Perseus Jackson!" Thalia said, she hadn't called me Annie since I was a little girl that ran away from home. Then she had to say his name, his full name at that.

"Thals leave me alone, I have work to do. Chiron has agreed to allow me to do my work and forgo other activities as needed." I said.

"How long is this work going to take? You're not staying in here all summer." Thalia said.

"I'm not sure how long it will take especially if I keep getting interrupted." I said incredulously. Thalia just glared at me with her electric blue eyes and I could almost feel the electricity coming out of them.

"You win for now, but I'll be back!" Thalia said as she stormed out of my cabin.

Thank the gods that was over, Thalia can be so hard headed sometimes.

"Someone else can be pretty hard headed to, my dear." A voice said from across the room. I looked and then I saw her walk out of the shadows it was Athena, my mother.

"Mom" I yelled as I ran to her and gave her a big hug.

"Annabeth, I saw and heard that conversation, you know Thalia is just worried about you. Actually, Theseus, Chiron and I are worried as well. I know for a fact that you do not have that much work to keep you away from camp activities so don't give me any excuses." Athena said sternly.

"Mom, I'm just trying to keep myself busy so I don't dwell on my problems." I said.

"Problems? The only problem you have is that the man you love is in Atlantis and will remain there for a year. You need to have fun, train yourself, participate in camp activities with your friends. There are two more capture the flags before the end of summer, I expect your team to win at least one of the remaining contests. Do I make myself clear?" Athena said.

"Yes mom, I will participate in camp activities." I agreed not wanting to upset her.

"Good, as a reward I will come and get you next week, so you can spend a few days with Theseus and I on Olympus." Athena said.

A broad smile stretched across my face. "That sounds great, thank you mom." I said.

"Good, now get out there and have fun. I love you!" Athena said as she disappeared into a golden light. I walked out of my cabin and the sun was still shining brightly, it took a few minutes for my eyes to adjust to the light. I guess I had been in my cabin for a long time. I get to go to Olympus next week. I can see how the construction work is going and I get to stay with mom and Theseus. That should be a lot of fun.

I walked outside and headed for the training facility, sometimes I forget how big that building is. It looks just like the Temple of Theseus in Athens with it's long marble columns. I walked inside and headed for the archery room. I walked in and Thalia was practicing in the corner, so I made my way over to her. She smiled when she saw me.

"So the brain has finally pulled herself away from the computer I see." Thalia said sarcastically. Sometimes I forget how much alike Percy and Thalia are, they could be brother and sister. A scary thought I know, especially the idea of Percy dressed as a punk rocker.

"Well my mom kinda ordered me to get out of the cabin." I said.

"Good, I'll have to thank her the next time I see her." Thalia said with a wry smile.

"Something makes me think that you already spoke to her." I accused.

Thalia raised her hands in surrender. "Now why would I bother your mother with something like this, it had to be Theseus or Chiron." Thalia said as she smiled at me innocently. I knew better than to trust that smile, but I decided it was better not to argue with her.

"Mind if I practice with you?" I asked.

"No, I would love to have someone to practice with, Nico sucks at archery." Thalia said.

"That doesn't surprise me, his ADHD is a little too severe for him to stay focused for long." I said.

"Tell me about it, the only thing that can keep him focused is making out." Thalia said and then I saw her face turn a bright red.

"What?" I said as I laughed at her face.

"Let's just pretend that I never said that shall we?" Thalia said nervously.

"Alright, if you promise to stop talking about my boyfriend, deal?" I said.

"Deal!" Thalia said.

We continued to shoot arrows until Nico ran into the room yelling, "Thalia!" as he entered. Thalia waved to him and I could tell she was a little embarrassed about how loud Nico had yelled her name.

"What's up ghost boy?" Thalia asked.

"Do you want to go for a walk in the woods?" Nico asked as he winked at Thalia, I tried unsuccessfully to hold in a slight chuckle. Thalia just glared at me and said, "Sure, let's go." Thalia continued to glare at me as she walked out the door with Nico in tow. All I could think of was how cute they were and how hard she was going to hit him when they got out of the training facility. I guess Thalia's and Nico's antics got me thinking about Percy, so I put down my bow and arrows and walked to the lake. As I reached the lake, I sat down on the end of the dock and just thought about all of the great times that Percy and I shared here. I started to wonder what he was doing in Atlantis and how his training was going? I missed him so much and walking around camp just made me miss him more. I can't wait till next week when I get to go to Olympus, at least there I'm not constantly reminded of Percy. Camp is definitely not the same with my seaweed brain, I thought.

AN: I hope everyone enjoyed this short chapter, several people asked me to do at least one chapter about camp without Percy. I think this story will have many short chapters most centered around Percy and his experience in Atlantis, but as you'll see in the next chapter there will be other venues as well.


	3. Visiting Olympus

Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians

_**AN: Three and a half weeks after Percy left Camp Half Blood for Atlantis**_

Chapter 3: Visiting Olympus

**Percy's POV**

It's been over a week since I had the run in with the Megalodon shark and the burns on my back have almost healed completely. From what my dad told me, if I had been any other demigod I would have been dead with these burns, but right now I could barely see any signs that I had been burned. This whole healing in water trick is pretty cool. I got out of bed and got ready for the trip to Olympus. Dad would be picking me up in thirty minutes. I finished and got dressed in a green dress shirt with a pair of navy blue dress pants and my best leather sandals. On Atlantis sandals are the big thing and the ones my dad gave me were incredible. They were leather, but they had celestial bronze straps with leather on the bottom and the soles of the sandals were a greenish blue color. I looked in the mirror and noticed for the first time that my hair had grown to my shoulders and that my skin color had lightened. Not that I was pale by any means, but my skin was now a normal tan instead of my usual surfer dude tan. Suddenly, my dad appeared in front of me.

"Percy are you ready?" Poseidon asked.

"Yes, I have my bag and I brought my guitar just in case Theseus wants to play." I said.

"Good, I know you've been unable to practice here in Atlantis, so I hope you can play on Olympus." Poseidon said as he put his hand on my shoulder and we dissolved into a green-blue mist. We reappeared a minute later and we were standing in the throne room garden on Olympus. I noticed that all of the flowers were in bloom and the trees were full of leaves. The garden was a rainbow of color and smelled wonderful.

"Where are we going first, dad?" I asked.

"To my apartment, so you can put your things away, then I have a council meeting to attend." Poseidon said. We walked to my dad's apartment on Olympus it was only about a block away from the throne room. The apartment was about the size of my cabin in camp. There were three bedrooms, a living room, a kitchen and three bathrooms. The walls were made of beautiful Olympian marble and the view out the front window was incredible. You could see the entire city, Olympus gleamed in the sunlight and I couldn't believe how beautiful it was. I thought of Annabeth and all the work she put into this city, she had done an amazing job so far. I put my stuff in the bedroom I would use, the bedroom was painted a greenish blue color that was very similar to my eye color, there was a bed, two closets and a desk with one of the special computer terminals that my dad let me use in Atlantis. I walked out of my room and dad asked, "Are you ready to go?"

"Yes, let's go!" I said.

We walked the block back to the throne room and entered the beautiful marble building. I noticed now that the throne room was broken into two sections one for the council of twelve and the other for all of the minor gods. We walked to the Olympian throne room and opened the double doors and entered. All of the Olympians were there except for my dad who hurried over to his throne and sat down. I made my way to the guest section that was over to one side of the room. I didn't see anybody else there at the moment. I waited while the gods discussed some business regarding reconstruction, primarily regarding infrastructure improvements. When they were finished they all started to disappear except for three particular gods, my dad, Theseus and Athena.

"Percy, come here son." Poseidon yelled to me. I walked over and was gang hugged by my brother and his wife. When we broke apart I just smiled and started to laugh.

"What's so funny?" Theseus asked with a smile.

"Well, you all act like I have been gone a year already." I said sarcastically.

Theseus and Athena just looked at me and smiled.

"It feels like you've been gone that long." Theseus said.

"I see that you're wearing the head band that Hephaestus forged for you." Athena asked.

"Well, that's why I couldn't tell you were here." Theseus said.

"He has to wear it at all times as you know. That's the primary rule of the training. He has to rely on his own power not on others. He has enough strength to be dangerous, he doesn't need help." Poseidon said.

"How's camp?" I asked.

Theseus and Athena gave me a knowing look. "Annabeth is fine Percy, but she misses you a lot." Athena said.

"How do you know I was talking about Annabeth?" I asked.

"Come on brother, I don't even need to have our mental link to read you." Theseus said.

"Besides Annabeth has missed you a lot, she even avoided the first capture the flag, but I finally talked her out of her funk." Athena said with smile.

"Good, I don't want her to miss out on her last summer as a camper." I said sadly remembering that I would miss out on my last summer.

"Well, we have to be off, we both need to go to camp, but we'll be back later." Theseus said. He and Athena disappeared into a golden light.

"Son, if you want to get your guitar I believe Hermes and Apollo are practicing in the ballroom." Poseidon said with a wry smile.

"Sounds great" I said. I ran out of the throne room and made it back to my dad's apartment. I grabbed my guitar case and ran to the ballroom. The ballroom was a beautiful white marble building surrounded by four large Corinthian columns on each side and at the top of the building were carvings of the gods in battle against their enemies. I ran into the building, I heard a keyboard and drums being played. As I entered the main ballroom I saw Apollo and Hermes on the stage practicing. They're eyes lit up when they saw.

"Percy get up here and help us practice!" Apollo yelled as Hermes nodded in agreement.

"Guys, I have a song I would like to practice with you." I said as I began to play the song on my guitar.

"That's a good song." Apollo said as he began to play it as well, then Hermes joined us with his drums. Once we all were playing in rhythm together I began to sing the song, "Move Along" from The All-American Rejects.

_Go ahead as you waste your days with thinking_

_When you fall everyone stands_

_Another day and you've had your fill of sinking_

_With the life held in your_

_Hands are shaking cold_

_These hands are meant to hold_

_Speak to me, when all you got to keep is strong_

_Move along, move along like I know you do_

_And even when your hope is gone_

_Move along, move along just to make it through_

_Move along_

_Move along_

_So a day when you've lost yourself completely_

_Could be a night when your life ends_

_Such a heart that will lead you to deceiving_

_All the pain held in your_

_Hands are shaking cold_

_Your hands are mine to hold_

_Speak to me, when all you got to keep is strong_

_Move along, move along like I know you do_

_And even when your hope is gone_

_Move along, move along just to make it through_

_Move along_

_(Go on, go on, go on, go on)_

_When everything is wrong we move along_

_(Go on, go on, go on, go on)_

_When everything is wrong, we move along_

_Along, along, along_

_When all you got to keep is strong_

_Move along, move along like I know you do_

_And even when your hope is gone_

_Move along, move along just to make it through_

_(Move along)_

_(Go on, go on, go on, go on)_

_Right back what is wrong_

_We move along_

When I finished singing I looked up from my guitar and standing in the floor of the ballroom was Annabeth with tears in her eyes. Behind her I could see Athena and Theseus smiling, but I really couldn't take my eyes off my wise girl. I put away my guitar in a hurry and jumped off the stage and ran to her. We engulfed each other in a huge hug. I lifted Annabeth off the ground and spun her around in the air for a few seconds before I lowered her feet to the ground. We pulled apart slightly and looked into each others eyes. We were both crying, I reached down and wiped away her tears and said, "I can't believe you're here. I've missed you so much."

Annabeth just stared at me and smiled, that smile that always takes my breath away.

"Oh, Percy I've missed you too!" Annabeth said as she reached up and kissed me softly. I felt electricity as her lips met mine and I returned the kiss passionately.

"It is so good to see you. You look tired." I said.

"I am a little, I haven't slept very well since you've been gone. You look different, your tan is lighter and your hair has grown so much." Annabeth said.

"I know, do I look bad?" I asked.

"No, just different, but a good different." Annabeth said nervously as she looked into my eyes.

We spent the next two days together on Olympus. Seeing all there was to see in the city. Annabeth would watch me practice with Apollo, Hermes and Theseus. I would watch her work with Athena on plans for new buildings in the city. Then the time came that I dreaded, I had to get back to Atlantis. Annabeth and I were in the flower garden just talking and keeping each other company when Poseidon appeared in front of us.

"Percy, I'm afraid that we have to go son." Poseidon said sadly.

I saw tears well up in Annabeth's eyes, so I wiped them away.

"Be strong wise girl, I want you to enjoy this year and hopefully we will have another visit on Olympus, you never know." I said.

Annabeth stared at me and smiled. "It will be hard, but I promise to have fun at camp and to have a good year." Annabeth said.

"I promise to succeed with this training and when I return, you will be the first person I will see." I said. I leaned down and kissed her softly and then I walked over to Poseidon and we disappeared into a green-blue mist. My last sight of my wise girl was of her beautiful gray eyes and her hopeful smile, I'll remember that image always.

_**AN: I know another short chapter, but we all knew that this was just a little filler chapter for upcoming adventures in Atlantis. As Percy said there may be another rendezvous in Olympus, you never know.**_


	4. Anger Management

Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians

_**AN: Two months after Percy left Camp Half Blood for Atlantis**_

Chapter 4: Anger Management

**Percy's POV**

I've been back from Olympus for several weeks now and I still can't help worrying about Annabeth. She was taking my absence very hard, I guess I would be too except for the continuous training. My training schedule since I returned has increased from two to four hours a day to five to ten hours. I'm really tired, but I can't imagine how bad I would be if I didn't have the sea around me at all times. I needed to get going I have a scheduled training session with Triton in ten minutes. I ran out of my apartment and made my way at full speed to the training facility. I made it with two minutes to spare, Triton was there waiting for me.

"Good to see that you're on time today Perce." Triton said, for whatever reason he likes to call me Perce, two can play at this game.

"I can't leave you waiting Tri." I said with a smirk on my face. Triton just looked at me and smiled.

"Are you ready little brother?" Triton asked.

"Knock yourself out." I said. Triton looked at me darkly and aimed his trident at me and fired. For the first two months of training I have focused on honing my skills with water and I have discovered that I have the ability to create a shield of water that can protect me from energy blasts. Believe me it has taken a lot of work to get this far and if I didn't heal almost immediately I would have the bruises to show for it. I made my shield of water and deflected the blast. Now the hard part, Triton focused harder on the energy blast and it grew in power. I could feel it start to weaken my water shield, so I concentrated harder and I made the shield stronger. We stayed locked in this battle for a good fifty minutes until I could feel Triton's stamina ebb and then he halted his assault and lowered his trident. He was breathing heavy. My water shield receded until it was no more. Triton looked up at me and smiled.

"Great job Percy, you did it. It looks like you have graduated to level two." Triton said.

"How many levels are there?" I asked.

"Five." Triton said.

"It took me two months to go up one level?" I asked. Triton just looked at me and smiled.

"Well, actually about a month considering we started you off slow and you did have the run-in with the shark." Triton said.

"Alright, a month I guess that's not too bad." I said.

"Actually it's better than me." Triton said with a smile and then he walked over and slapped me on the back.

"Let's go, we have to start training in level two now." Triton said.

"What's level two?" I asked.

"Anger management." Triton said.

"What? Do you mean I have to sit on a couch with a guy asking me about my mother now?" I asked sarcastically. Triton just looked at me and started to laugh.

"No, it's not that easy, you'll see." Triton said. I followed him out of the city until I saw a cave just on the outskirts of a temple dedicated to my father. The cave was right off the sea floor and was part of a large rock outcrop. The rocks were almost black in color and therefore the cave was extremely dark.

"How am I suppose to see in there?" I asked.

"Just use your senses, just like you do when you're swimming through the depths of the sea." Triton said.

"You're not coming in with me?" I asked.

"No brother, this training is meant for you and you alone." Triton said confidently.

I slowly made my way into the cave, the darkness was nothing like the darkness of the deep sea. It was like something evil was watching me, ready to pounce on me at any moment. I felt a heavy weight on me and it had nothing to do with the depth of the water. I willed myself to increase my strength and to enhance my senses. I walked further into the cave and then I started to hear noises, it sounded like a young boy yelling and then I heard the sound of an animal huffing. I turned a corner in the cave and I was in a forest and I wasn't underwater anymore. I recognized this place it's the forest at camp. I ran to the camp boundary and I was frozen by what I saw. I saw a young boy with dark hair standing in front of the barrier with a another figure lying on the ground next to him. Then I noticed the large figure loom over the boy, it was the minotaur and then I realized the minotaur had something in it's hand. It was a woman and then the realization hit me like a ton of bricks. I was reliving the day my mom was taken by the minotaur. I fell to my knees yelling at my younger self. Then I saw my mom disappear and I screamed for her. I saw my younger self scream and then I saw the anger in the boy's face and then I felt it as well. I remembered how powerful the anger made me and I noticed that my body started to glow in the cave. I started to glow a dark green color. The color that my eyes turn when I'm incredibly angry. I noticed that the boy's eyes turned that color as well. Have I had this power that long, I thought? Suddenly, I felt an explosion of power and then I noticed the boy stab the minotaur and the monster hit the ground hard and turned to dust. A surge of anger roared through me and the next thing I knew I was exploding. I woke up a few minutes later and I saw Triton standing above me.

"Perce are you alright?" Triton asked. I could see the worried look on his face.

"Yes, what happened?" I asked.

"You're anger overwhelmed you and the power exploded within you. You exploded out of the cave at a tremendous speed and landed here. How do you feel?" Triton asked.

"Like I exploded I guess, all of my muscles hurt and I have one Hades of a headache." I said.

"That's to be expected, now that you have experienced the Cave of Sorrows, you'll know better next time." Triton said.

"Cave of Sorrows?" I asked.

"Yes, this cave has been used by the children of Poseidon for three thousand years to control the anger within us. You see our father can get very angry and his anger causes terrible things to happen." Triton said.

"You mean like storms, earthquakes and tidal waves?" I asked.

"Yes, this cave was created by my father and Hephaestus to help us all train in the control of our anger. This cave will be an instrumental part of your training." Triton said.

"I saw my mom get attacked by the minotaur." I said.

"Ah yes, the first time your anger manifested itself fully. I take it that you felt the power when you defeated the monster?" Triton asked, as he helped me to my feet.

"Yes, have I had this power for that long?" I asked.

"You have, Theseus only helped you tap into it when he taught you to focus and to manipulate your abilities with water. The anger or the dark side of our psyches is always the most dangerous and for children of Poseidon it is very dangerous indeed." Triton said as we swam back to the city. Triton helped me back to my room as I was still a little dizzy.

"Go lay down for a while brother, Tyson wants to see you at the forges if you feel up to it. If not, call him and let him know, as you're aware the heat of the forges is such that you need to have full control of your abilities or you'll feel the burn again, literally." Triton said as he smiled at me and left me alone in my apartment. I went and laid on my bed, I did need to rest for awhile as I fell fast to sleep.

I awoke about two hours later feeling as good as new. I put on a different set of clothes and then left my apartment. I swam to the other side of the city and then exited the city gate. I swam to the forges, the forges were located at the base of an active underwater volcano. The volcano stretched several thousand feet above the ocean floor the mountain was a dark brown color with no semblance of life on it, even on the ocean floor I could feel the heat emanating from the mountain. I spotted the cave that led to the forges, it was guarded by two huge cyclops. They nodded in respect to me as I approached and I swam passed them into the cave. I followed the long cave until I saw a bright reddish orange light at the end of the passageway. I could feel the intense heat and so I willed myself to increase the endurance of my body and used the water to keep down my body temperature. I could only keep this level of concentration up for two hours or so, but I had improved a lot since I arrived. My first trek into the forges lasted about thirty minutes before I passed out and had to be carried home by Tyson. As I entered the lighted room I was struck again by the scene in front of me, the room was huge about the size of a football stadium. One entire wall of the room was a flowing mass of lava, the rest of the room was laid out with massive forges and anvils that circled around the wall of lava. The room was not devoid of life because there were approximately thirty cyclops working on different weapons and instruments of war. I looked to the far corner of the massive room and I saw Tyson. I walked over to him and received several nods and salutes from the cyclops as I walked passed them. Tyson's eyes lit up when he saw me.

"Big brother, how are you?" Tyson said.

"I'm doing well, how goes that special item that you are working on form me?" I asked.

"It's coming along very well, once you found me the correct ore it has been easy to forge it. I'm just working on the designs." Tyson said.

"Good, so it will be done on time?" I asked.

"Yes, actually I'll have it done plus a little surprise for your birthday brother." Tyson said.

"What kind of surprise?" I asked.

"I can't tell you, it's a surprise." Tyson said.

"Alright, little brother keep your secret." I said. I patted him on the back and walked out of the forges. As I exited the massive cave and swam back to Atlantis I could finally feel the heat subside. As I reached the city and began to enter through the massive gate something struck me in the back. I fell against the gate and blacked out.

I awoke in my bed and I had know memory of what happened. I looked up and I saw Amphitrite hovering over me.

"Don't talk my boy, you were hit with a poison arrow." Amphitrite said.

My father walked up behind Amphitrite and he smiled at me when he saw that I was awake.

"What happened?" I said softly.

"What did I tell you about talking Percy?" Amphitrite said scoldingly.

"It's OK Amphi the boy needs to know what happened." Poseidon said.

"Son, you were hit with an arrow, it contained poison from a certain green sea snake, it's quite deadly if not treated early. Thankfully, I sent Triton out to look for you and he found you passed out at the main gate. Your going to be just fine, but you'll need some bed rest." Poseidon said.

"Who?" I said barely.

"Who did this to you? Now that is the main question isn't it. The arrow in question had the intertwined symbol of the shark and squid. The symbol of the Cult of Oceanus. It appears that a sharkman assassin tried to kill you my boy. Most likely to take revenge on the death of his master." Poseidon said.

"The shark." I added.

"Yes, I agree, most likely the Megalodon that attacked you was also sent by the cult to kill you. We will post mermen guards outside your quarters at all times and they will escort you around the city and when you leave the city. I'm afraid that your recreational swims will have to end. You are only allowed to leave the city for training or to visit the forges. Do I make myself clear?" Poseidon said.

"Yes, sir." I said weakly.

"Now get some rest." Amphitrite said as she and my father left my apartment. I was so tired I closed my eyes and fell asleep. I dreamed of menacing sharks and sharkmen. Suffice to say I didn't sleep very well. My life just keeps getting better and better I thought sarcastically.

_**AN: I hope you enjoyed this chapter, it looks like Percy has other things to worry about besides his training.**_


	5. My 19th Birthday

Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians

_**AN: Three months after Percy left Camp Half Blood for Atlantis**_

Chapter 5: My 19th Birthday

**Percy's POV**

I woke up and still felt tired from yesterday's training. Yesterday I only blew myself up three times in the Cave of Sorrows. That was certainly better than the day before when I blew myself up six times. I sat up in bed still incredibly sore. I walked to my bathroom and got cleaned up. When I was finished I turned on my computer like terminal. I almost fell out of my seat when I saw the date, August 18th, my birthday. I was happy for an instant until I remembered where I was and it wasn't camp. I wish I could IM camp to see everyone, especially Annabeth. Then I remembered my conversation with my dad three months ago.

"Dad, why can't I just IM Annabeth?" I asked. My dad just looked at me with his stern look and then I saw his face soften as he saw how sad I was.

"Son, you know one of the conditions of the training is no contact with the outside world, especially contact that can't be controlled." Poseidon said.

"Controlled?" I asked.

"Yes, an IM will allow you to contact someone at any moment no matter what they are doing. They could be doing something that makes you mad, or sad, or jealous. Part of the deal with the council was that your training would include a ban on Iming, I'm sorry son." Poseidon said.

Then I remembered a conversation just two weeks ago with my dad.

"Dad, I'm not suppose to IM or see my friends, but I saw Annabeth on Olympus and no one complained or punished me." I said.

"That was a special case you see Athena asked Zeus if Annabeth could see you when you came to Olympus. Zeus agreed as long as you were both watched carefully." Poseidon said.

"That's why we always had someone close by when we were together." I said.

"Yes, we needed to make sure that the interaction wasn't dangerous, especially to Annabeth." Poseidon said.

I was brought back out of my memories by a knock at the door. I opened the door to see Triton smiling at me and behind him were the two guards that follow me everywhere, since the attack at the gate a few weeks ago. The good news no more attacks since, bad news it didn't make me feel any better.

"Hey, Perce are you ready to go to your birthday party?" Triton asked.

"I guess, it's not going to be a huge party?" I said sadly.

"Hey, don't be sad, I know you miss your friends, but Theseus did send your presents from your friends here courtesy of Hermes. Also, the party is at mom and dad's place." Triton said happily. I smiled at that, I wonder what my friends got me.

"Alright let's go." I said as we walked out of my apartment and headed for the royal chambers. The long corridors of Atlantis as always were beautiful mix of shining white marble and shining black lava stone. The windows along the corridor were filled with beautiful blue water and sea creatures of all sorts swimming around. I could see mermen and mermaids, whales, fish and other assorted creatures. We finally made our way to the end of the corridor and stopped in front of two large double doors that had large golden tridents on them. Triton opened the doors and when we walked in I saw the massive living room of my father's place. The ceiling was twenty feet tall and the walls were pure white marble. The ceiling was made of glass and I could see the ocean above us and light from the surface. The room had couches and furniture made of many different materials and colors organized in the form of a half moon. In the middle of the room was my father and Amphitrite, they were organizing boxes on a large table. As Triton closed the door the two of them looked up towards us.

"Boys, you here!" Amphitrite said, I could see Triton wince when his mom called us boys.

"I'm glad you are both here. Happy birthday son." Poseidon said.

"Thanks dad, the place looks great." I said.

"Your father wanted to throw an elaborate Atlantean party for you, but I thought you would prefer something more toned down and more family oriented." Amphitrite said. I was so glad she talked dad out of some huge formal party, I would have felt really out of place.

"Thank you Amphi, I appreciate you thinking of me." I said thankfully.

"Well, I guess you were right dear." Poseidon said to Amphitrite.

"Where is Tyson?" Triton asked.

"He should be here in a little while. He was at the forges the last time I talked to him." Poseidon said.

As if on queue Tyson walked into the room carrying a small box, it was rapped rather clumsily in bright red paper.

"Happy birthday Percy" Tyson said as he gave me a hug that nearly popped my head off my neck.

"Thank you!" I said as I caught my breath.

"I think it's time to open gifts, is everyone ready?" Poseidon said. We all walked over to the table and sat down on the chairs surrounding it.

"Percy, this is the gift from Amphi and I." Poseidon said as he handed me a large box the size of a suitcase. I opened the box and inside was a set of full body armor made from celestial bronze. A large golden trident was on the chest plate. The armor glowed in the light of the room.

"It's beautiful!" I said. Poseidon and Amphitrite smiled at me.

"Its the best armor in Atlantis, my boy." Poseidon said.

"Thank you both very much." I said as I hugged my dad and my step-mother.

"Here Perce open mine next." Triton said as he handed me a small box. I opened the box and a small ball about the size of a baseball was in it. The ball was made of some type of crystal and it had a green mist inside of it.

"What is it?" I asked.

"It's a memory globe, think of your happiest memory and the globe will show you." Triton said. I though about Annabeth and I in a bubble at the bottom of the lake and then the image appeared in the globe. I had tears rolling down my eyes as I remembered this happiest of memories. I gave Triton a big hug.

"Thank you, this is incredible." I said excitedly.

"You're welcome little brother." Triton said with a smile.

"Now mine" Tyson yelled excitedly. I opened the small package that Tyson handed to me and in the box was a bracelet made of what I remembered as the godly metal adamantine and inlayed within the metal was celestial bronze image of a pegasus.

"It's beautiful, but how did you have enough to make it?" I asked.

"I had plenty to make this and the special item I'm making as well." Tyson said.

"What does it do?" I asked amazed.

"Put it on." Tyson said, I put the bracelet on and then I noticed the jewel in the eye of the pegasus, it was a beautiful green emerald. I touched the jewel and the bracelet expanded into a gleaming adamantine shield. On the front was the pegasus again and then I noticed that as I moved the shield I could see someone on the back of the pegasus, it was me holding Riptide in my hand.

"It's beautiful, thank you little brother." I said as I gave Tyson a big hug, Tyson smiled at me broadly.

"Tyson, that was incredible work." Poseidon said with a smile and I could see Tyson's eyes light up in delight.

"Alright we also have presents here from Paul and Sally, Nico, Thalia, Grover, Theseus and Athena, and of course Annabeth." Poseidon said.

I opened Paul's and Sally's gift and it was a set of car keys and a note, it read, _Enjoy the Prius when you return, love mom and Paul. _They're giving me the Prius, I knew they wanted a bigger car since Zoe was born. I have a car that's cool as long as I make back to New York alive, damn my pessimism.

"Percy, here is a gift from Nico." Triton said. I took a two foot long box from Triton and opened it. I was completely surprised it was a black Stygian steel dagger, and on the end of the handle was the head of a hell hound that looked exactly like Mrs. O'Leary. This is so cool, I thought.

"Here is a gift from Thalia." Poseidon said. My dad handed me a square box that was roughly the size of my hand and I opened it. Inside was a yellow camera that was clearly waterproof. A note was attached and it said, _I want some photos kelp head._ I laughed to my self thinking of my friend Thalia and I thanked my lucky stars that she was Nico's girlfriend and not mine.

Then I took the gift marked from Grover, I looked at it and then opened it. It was a book that had been laminated, it was a recipe book on how to cook with seaweed. I made a mental note to kick Grover's furry butt when I got back to camp. Believe me I'd already eaten my fair share of seaweed in Atlantis, it was a staple here like rice or pasta back home.

"Here is your gift from Theseus and Athena." Poseidon said, as he handed me a large case it was very long about four feet in length. I opened it carefully and inside was a celestial bronze guitar and a note, it read, _This instrument blessed by Apollo himself may play beneath the sea and shall sing a song worthy of the Leviathon._ Leviathon, what is that, awe yes I remember that was the ancient term for a whale.

I took the last package that I knew was from Annabeth it was a small gray box that was the color of her eyes, I opened it carefully and I saw a note, it read, _Thinking of you love __wise girl._ I saw a silver necklace with a charm attached. The charm showed an image of a sailboat and not any ordinary sailboat it was the one that I designed that was named after my wise girl and on the sail was an owl holding a trident in it's talons. I took it out and studied it. Then I placed it around my neck carefully. A tear rolled down from my eye and I saw Amphi looking at me sympathetically.

"Don't worry my boy, you will see her again." Amphitrite said.

"I want to thank all of you for making me feel so at home here." I said sincerely.

"It has been a pleasure having you stay with us Percy, you're always welcome here." Amphitrite said as my dad and my brothers smiled at me.

After the party ended Triton and Tyson helped me carry my gifts to my apartment. I was amazed at all my presents, well except for Grovers. I was so tired that I went to sleep early with my new necklace on. I held it in my hand as I dreamed of Annabeth and wondered if she was having fun at camp.

_**I know another short chapter, some questions about Iris messages so I hope the little flashback section on Iming helped people understand why Percy can't IM, blame Zeus if you must. I know I do.**_


	6. A Late Delivery

Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians

_**AN: Four months after Percy left Camp Half Blood for Atlantis**_

Chapter 6: A Late Delivery

**Annabeth's POV**

I just finished having a small birthday party at the big house. I got some very nice gifts from my friends, but none of that really mattered because I didn't get a gift form Percy. I guess he was too busy to get me something. I walked back to my cabin sadly and placed my gifts on my bed. I needed to get out of here and I couldn't go to the lake, it would remind me of him. I walked back to the training facility and shot some arrows at a couple targets. Why is he such seaweed brain, how could he forget my birthday? I gave him a great gift and now he forgets my birthday. Has he met someone else? Did he find some mermaid bimbo to go out with? Has he forgotten about me? I need to calm down, there has to be a perfectly logical explanation, I thought. I shot a few more arrows, but I missed the target three times in a row so I just gave up. Maybe some sword fighting will help. I walked to the sword training room and took out my knife. I destroyed three practice dummies, but I still felt terrible. I walked out of the training facility and headed toward my cabin. Then I heard noises in the woods just behind the mess hall. I walked over and expected to see a monster, instead two demigods fell out of the trees. They were making out furiously until they hit the ground with a thud. Then I realized who they were.

"Thals, Nico what are you doing?" I asked.

"What does it look like? Wow, Percy has been gone a long time." Thalia said sarcastically.

"Whatever, but you may want to get up and fix yourselves up I saw Chiron coming this way." I lied.

Nico and Thalia both tried to get up at the same time and bumped heads hard. They fell back to ground with a thud. I heard them cursing and yelling as I made my way back to my cabin. I entered and noticed a small package on my bed and a note on top of it that read, _Sorry for the delay, this package got lost in transition, H. _

Hermes, delivered a package late, it must have come from an unusual place and then I read the postage, from Atlantis. I hurriedly opened the package and I saw a note first with paper below it. The note read, _For my wise girl,thank you for my gift and protect yourself my love, Percy._ I smiled to myself, he didn't forget my birthday at all. I removed the packaging and I found a bracelet made out of a metal I didn't recognize. I opened one of my books on metallurgy, yes I have a book on that, I'm a nerd so sue me. Then I realized this metal was Adamantine, how did he get this? I placed the bracelet on my wrist and looked at it closely, there was an image of an owl flying over the ocean, I noticed that the owl had a beautiful gray diamond for an eye. I touched the diamond and the bracelet turned into a beautiful glimmering shield. I looked at the shield and as I turned it the image changed instead of just an owl flying over the ocean there was a hippocampi in the water and on it's back was a girl and then I realized that the girl was me. The shield was incredible and I knew Percy had it made in the forges and I bet Tyson helped. I touched the diamond eye again and the shield became a bracelet again

I laid on my bed looking at my bracelet and thinking of Percy. How could I have doubted him? Stupid girl I thought. I fell asleep dreaming of Percy, this wasn't my best birthday, but I did get one of my best presents ever. Although the only present that I wanted now was Percy in my arms.

_**I hope you enjoyed this very short chapter and I guess everyone knows what Tyson was making now. How did that seaweed brain get the metal, a good question?**_


	7. In Control

Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians

_**AN: Three and a half months after Percy left Camp Half Blood for Atlantis**_

Chapter 7: In Control

**Percy's POV**

I'm stuck on level two of my training and I'm not sure how to get passed it. I was sitting in my apartment strumming the guitar that Athena and Theseus gave me. As I was playing I noticed the bracelet that Tyson gave me, it was really beautiful and then I remembered that Annabeth's birthday was in two weeks and I thought of her present. I can't believe Tyson had enough Adamantine to make two shields, but clearly he did. I reached over my shoulder to the box where Annabeth's present was sitting waiting to be shipped to camp. I took out the bracelet and looked at it. It was as beautiful as my bracelet and I knew Annabeth would love it, I think she would love it more if she knew I had a similar one as well. Then I remembered three months ago when I first had the idea of making Annabeth's present. Tyson was in my apartment at the time.

_Three months ago, Percy's apartment in Atlantis_

"Tyson do you think you could make something for Annabeth for her birthday?" I asked.

"Sure, I love to make somethin for Anniebell." Tyson said as he was eating a peanut butter sandwich.

"I want it to be special and not just ordinary celestial bronze." I said.

"Well, wut about Adamanteen?" Tyson said again as he chewed his sandwich.

"Adamantine." I said. Tyson just nodded in agreement. Then I realized the only person who would know where to find some would be Hephaestus. So I used the special fountain in my apartment to Iris Message Hephaestus, the image cleared and there sat Hephaestus sitting in front of his work bench.

"Lord Hephaestus" I said. He looked at me quizzically.

"Perseus, how can I help you cousin?" Hephaestus said.

"Well, do you know where I can get some Adamantine?" I asked. I saw his face scrunch up in thought and then he gave me a smirk and said, "Well, closer than you might think. The chains that held Typhon before he escaped were made of Adamantine, they should still be in his empty abyss."

"Where is that?" I asked.

"Ask your dad, he knows." Hephaestus said as he waved his hand through the message.

I ran out of my room and headed for the royal chambers, when I approached I knocked on the double doors and waited for an answer. I heard footsteps approach the door and there my dad stood wearing his typical Bermuda shorts and Hawaiian shirt.

"Percy, is there something wrong my boy?" Poseidon said concerned.

"Dad, I need to know where Typhon's prison was." I said. My dad's eyes grew big with surprise.

"What for?" Poseidon asked.

"I want to work in the forges with Tyson on a special project and I need Adamantine." I said. I could tell by the look on my dad's face that he was thinking about this request and whether he should tell me.

"Alright, the prison is in the Laurentian Abyssal not too far from where you and your brothers freed me from Oceanus. You must be careful and you will take your body guards with you. The sharkmen will most likely try to attack you when you are away from the protection of the city. Promise me that you will be careful, son." Poseidon said.

"I will dad, I promise." I said as I turned and ran down the corridor to my apartment. I needed to get ready for this little adventure. When I reached my apartment I noticed my guards waiting for me, they were mermen and their names were Hesiod and Ariston. I told both of them to get ready for a trip and that we would be leaving in thirty minutes. I went back into my apartment and I guess Tyson had already left because his empty plate sat on my table. I placed my bracelet on and double checked that I had Riptide in my right front pocket and then grabbed a bag and filled it with food, ambrosia and nectar just in case we found trouble on our trip. I walked out the door to see Hesiod and Ariston.

"We're ready your highness." They said. Oh, I hate that, your highness crap.

"I'm ordering you two to call me Percy, alright." I yelled. They looked at me stunned.

"Yes, sir, I mean Percy." They said as I gave them a look that basically said do it or else.

We left the city and swam toward the Laurentian Abyssal as we reached the edge of the abyss I looked down into the dark depths. I checked my weapons, I had Riptide in my front pocket, I had my new bracelet/shield attached to my wrist and I had secured the dagger that Nico gave me to my ankle. I also had my backpack full of supplies. I looked at the two mermen next to me and then I said more confidently than I felt, "Let's go."

We swam to the bottom of the abyss and it was very hard to see because of the darkness, the walls of the abyssal were a dark rock very similar to the walls of the Cave of Sorrows. The floor of the abyssal was comprised of black sand that was very coarse in texture. I remembered that Oceanus's lair was further north so we swam towards the north at a rather brisk pace. We reached an area of the abyssal where the walls of the abyss were incredibly steep and then I noticed some large long structures stretching from the walls of the abyss. We approached these structures and I discovered that they were massive chains. It appeared that the links of the chains had been broken and then I realized that these chains were made of a metal I never saw before. It had to be Adamantine I noticed that there were three large links of chain laying at the bottom of the abyssal. We swam to the bottom of the abyss and each grabbed a link. These links were at least four feet long and must have weighed at least two hundred pounds a piece. The good thing was that the density of the sea water lessened the weight of the links and each one of us was able to carry one. We swam slowly to the top of the abyssal and slowly made our way back to Atlantis. After what seemed like forever I saw the lights of the city before us, I thought that we made it back without any problems. As usual the fates had another plan for us. Four sharkmen swam in front of us brandishing broadswords. That wasn't the worst part, I suddenly had a feeling that I never had before like something inside of me was warning me of danger, but not the danger in front of me. I turned and I noticed four more sharkmen behind us also with swords. Well just great, nothing is ever as easy as it seems, I thought.

I ordered Hesiod and Ariston to attack the four in front while I handled the four in back. I swam toward the four sharkmen and I think they were surprised when I didn't charge them, I guess they thought I was scared of them. Then two of them attacked me with their swords, I touched the diamond on my bracelet and my shield opened on my wrist. I deflected both blows from the two sharkmen and then I swiped with Riptide barely missing one of the sharkmen. The other two sharkmen picked that time to attack me I needed to even the odds a little. As I blocked the blow of the first sharkman I swung with Riptide, but as I spun around I ducked under the second sharkman's blade and kicked him hard in the face. Then I grabbed my dagger and threw it at the second sharkman and the blade hit him in the back as he swam away. I could see the life get sucked right out of him as the Stygian iron did its dirty work. Now there were three enemies and one of them was still dazed. I took this opportunity to charge two of the sharkmen. I swung my shield as if to hit the first one, but instead I drove Riptide forward and surprised the second sharkman impaling him in the throat. As I removed Riptide from his throat I felt the sudden rush of the second sharkman. I created a spear of frozen water and sent it flying at the charging sharkman, he was totally surprised as the ice spear struck him in the chest. Now I only had one sharkman left to fight. He was still dazed from my kick to his head, but he charged me anyway. He swung his sword at me, but I blocked it with Riptide, but unfortunately for this sharkman I had my shield ready. I swung around in a three hundred and sixty degree motion and crashed my shield into his skull. The sound of breaking bone and cartilage was sickening, but I had done my task. I had taken out four sharkmen in just a few minutes.

I looked toward Hesiod and Ariston, there were only two sharkmen left, but my mermen friends were in bad shape. I grabbed my dagger and raced to help them. When the two sharkmen saw me attack they swam away at full speed. I made my way to my two bodyguards, they looked pretty beat up, but they didn't have any serious injuries. I grabbed one of the chain links, but my companions could only carry one and even then they had to work together to carry it now. We made our way back to Atlantis, Tyson and I began our work on the design for a very special gift, Annabeth's bracelet.

_Back to present – Percy's Apartment in Atlantis_

That was an interesting little adventure. I held the bracelet in my hand and marveled at the craftsmanship. I knew that the shield this bracelet turned into was a great defensive and offensive weapon. My shield that Tyson had given me for my birthday now seemed a part of my arm and in battle was extremely deadly. I returned to reality when I heard a knock on my door. I placed Annabeth's gift in the box and walked to my door. I opened it to reveal my big brother Triton smiling at me.

"Ready to try again?" Triton asked. I knew exactly what he meant, I nodded in agreement and we made our way from the city and eventually stood in front of the Cave of Sorrows. Here I go again I thought as I walked into the entrance of the dark cave, remembering all my past failures and praying to all the gods that I could persevere this time.

I walked through the cave as before and approached the end of the passageway and then I saw the light again. I walked around the corner and I was in the forest outside of camp again. I saw the minotaur and felt the anger again as the boy who was me attacked and defeated the minotaur. I controlled my breathing and focused on my center, my core. I calmed myself by thinking of water and the many good things I had in my life.

The setting changed and I was on the island with Polyphemus chasing us trying to kill me and my friends. I remembered the anger as I charged him and slashed and attacked. I saw myself standing above Polyphemus on his chest with Riptide aimed at his one eye. I concentrated and road out the anger, I focused on my friends, they were alive. I focused on water, on the ocean and on my family.

The setting in the cave changed again and now I was holding up the sky watching Artemis fight Atlas, the pain and the anger toward the Titan welling up inside of me. Then I saw Zoe Nightshade attack Atlas and then I saw him hit her sending her body flying towards the dark rocks. I closed my eyes I remembered my past failures at this point. I concentrated on the fact that Zoe was a hero, she was in the stars. Her sacrifice saved Artemis and saved me. I fought through the anger and the shear power within me. I focused and concentrated like I never have before. I felt the water heat up around me in the cave and then I relaxed I remembered why I was here and who I was. The anger and the heat within me subsided.

The setting changed again and I was in Mount St. Helens, I was set on fire by the Telekhines, I felt myself burning, I felt the anger grow within in me. It was building and growing like I was the volcano. I approached a level of anger and power that I never felt before it was like a wave and then I realized what I needed to do. I pictured the anger as a wave and I was a surfer. I road the wave, the anger until it subsided and all I could feel was peace.

The room changes again and I was in the underworld, I saw Hades and his army of the dead attack me. I felt the anger again within me as I saw the River Styx explode and dissolve the enemy. I felt the fire within me as I raced toward Hades swinging Riptide and shredding all those that stood in my way. I remember blocking the dark blast of energy from Hades as I jumped and knocked him out of his chariot and to the ground. I remember holding my sword to his throat ready to stab him. I felt the anger and the hate within me grow and then I remembered the wave and road out the anger and the hate. I pictured all the anger within me as a violent wave, a tidal wave of anger, hate and power. I road this wave until the hate, the anger, the dark energy flowed out of me. My eyes closed and everything went black.

I awoke a few minutes later still in the cave, I felt tired, but I also felt at peace. More peace that I had ever felt before even when I was safe on the island with Calypso. I stood up, my legs were still a little wobbly, but I made my way slowly to the entrance of the cave. I walked out of the cave, I saw Triton smiling at me triumphantly then I collapsed to me knees. The world around me began to spin and then everything went dark again.

I awoke in my bed in my apartment in Atlantis. I was still tired, but when I opened my eyes I saw two smiling faces looking at me. One was my dad, he had a huge smile on his face and the other was Amphitrite. She looked very worried, but when I smiled back at them I saw her face turn to a smile as well.

"Son, you did it, congratulations." Poseidon said.

"Percy, how do you feel?" Amphitrite asked concerned.

"Well, I feel good that I didn't explode, but I'm really tired." I said weakly.

"Get your rest son, you have passed lesson two and you will need your rest for what is to come." Poseidon said. Lesson three I thought, I wonder what that will be. I thought about that for a moment, but I couldn't focus. I was so tired, I closed my eyes and fell asleep and for the first time in a long time I didn't dream of anything good or bad. I was at peace and that felt wonderful.

_**AN: Hope you enjoyed, two lessons down and three to go.**_


	8. A Lesson in Fear

Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians

_**AN: Four months after Percy left Camp Half Blood for Atlantis**_

Chapter 8: A Lesson in Fear

**Percy's POV**

Damn this whole I can't IM a demigod or a mortal crap. It was Annabeth's birthday yesterday and I couldn't contact her. I hope she got the present Hermes was late picking it up some excuse about a party that Aphrodite is throwing and her invitations were wrong and some other load of minotaur crap. I need to calm down so much for my peaceful demeanor after succeeding in lesson two. Someone just knocked on my door, I can tell by the knock that it's Triton. I walked to the door and opened it, standing before me was my dad and Triton.

"Percy we need to talk about lesson three." Poseidon said, it had been two weeks since I succeeded in lesson two and this is only the second time anyone even mentioned lesson three.

"Alright, I have been waiting two weeks to find out about it." I said impatiently. My dad just looked at me and sighed.

"Sorry son, but we needed to get all of the details first." Poseidon said.

"What do you mean you had to get all of the details?" I asked nervously.

"Well, this training is not something we usually do here in Atlantis. This is an old training technique established by the Spartans with a little assistance from Ares." Triton said. I almost fell out of my chair.

"What? My next training is courtesy of Ares? Come on dad, he would love nothing better than to see me roasted on a spit." I said.

"Calm down son, this training has come down from Zeus himself. You see we were only allowed to train you in the first two areas; your control of your powers and how to overcome anger. This third lesson is related to another similar emotion, fear." Poseidon said.

'Why did it take two weeks to get this training started?" I asked anxiously.

"Well, we had to find an appropriate location that fit the parameters that Ares set up. Once the area was found Ares and Hephaestus established the training scenario." Poseidon said.

"Alright, what is this training scenario?" I asked.

"Well, you will be dropped into the Plain of Despair and will have to travel three days without provisions without Riptide or your shield. You are allowed to bring your dagger, that's it." Triton said.

"That doesn't sound too bad I assume this plain is underwater so I can just swim across, it shouldn't take me three days." I said.

"I'm sorry son, but you will have celestial bronze weights attached to your ankles, you will not be able to swim, you will have to walk." Poseidon said.

"That's just great. I assume that there will be plenty of dangers along the way." I said sarcastically.

"We're so sorry Percy, I wish we could help you, but we are forbidden to assist. All we can tell you is that this training tests how you overcome the elements and fear in particular." Triton said sadly.

"I don't blame either of you. I just hate being in this situation, but I know I'm stuck. What happens if I refuse?" I asked.

Poseidon just looked at me and then back to Triton awkwardly.

"Son, you won't be killed if that's what you're worried about, but you will be banished from the mortal world and will be exiled to Atlantis forever." Poseidon said ominously.

"So that's it, either I do this or I can never see camp, New York or Annabeth again?" I asked.

"I'm afraid so Percy, again I wish there was another way." Triton said.

"How dangerous is this training?" I asked.

"It was banned over two thousand year ago as being too cruel even for Spartan standards. Many of those who participated in the training never made it out alive and others that did survive were driven mad. Only a few survived without any long lasting side effects." Triton said regretfully.

"Who do I have to thank for thinking this lesson up for me, Ares?" I said not believing how horrible the situation just became. My dad just looked at me, he was quiet for a while and then he said the name that completely threw me off, I thought I had gone back in time a few years.

"Athena" Poseidon said. I just looked at him blankly not believing him.

"What in Hades, are you joking?" I asked stunned.

"Well she didn't know that her answer would be used for your training." Poseidon said solemnly.

"Well, what did she know?" I asked.

"Zeus asked her about the one sure fire method to overcome fear and she went through several options and she mentioned the Spartan method. I don't know why Zeus picked it, but he did." Poseidon said.

"Well, that's gratitude for you. So much for your brother acting like a brother for once." I said incredulously. Poseidon just looked at me, I could tell he wanted to say more, but didn't.

"Alright when do I start the lesson?" I asked.

"Tomorrow morning." Triton said.

"I take it that Athena and Theseus don't know about this particular lesson, do they?" I said accusingly.

"No, Zeus thought it would cause some issues if they knew." Poseidon said.

"Issues like Athena and Theseus kicking your brother's ass I take it." I said not caring anymore if Zeus or my father was offended.

Poseidon just looked at me and shook his head. Triton looked at me and laughed.

"What's so funny?" Poseidon asked my brother.

"Well, there's no question that he's a son of Poseidon." Triton said with a smile. I just looked at him and I couldn't help, but smile as well. My dad started to laugh at the two of us.

"Sometimes having only sons can be a curse and other times a blessing." Poseidon said with a smirk.

"So is this time a blessing or a curse?" I asked. Poseidon just looked at me and smiled and then his smile dissolved into a serious and depressed look.

"I'm afraid both." Poseidon said. My dad stood and walked to my door.

"In need to leave son, Triton you staying?" Poseidon asked. Triton just looked at our father and said, "Dad, I'll stay for a while I want to talk to Percy." Our dad nodded and then exited my apartment.

"What did you need to talk about Tri?' I asked.

"Perce, I'm sorry about this whole mess you don't deserve any of these problems." Triton said.

"There was one time that you would have been happy if I died a horrible death." I said.

Triton just stared at me blankly and said, "That's before I knew you Perce, as I said before I was jealous of you." Triton said.

"I never understood why, though?" I asked.

"When dad first told me about you and when I saw your photo for the first time I was jealous. I have always done everything dad wanted me to do, but I always felt that I wasn't good enough. I always felt that dad was disappointed that I wasn't Theseus. I never hated Theseus, I wanted to be like him, to look like him." Triton said.

"What do you mean look like him?' I asked.

"Theseus looked so much like dad, its scary really. I always looked more like my mom. I just wanted to be more like dad. Then I saw your picture and you looked so much like dad, I just thought he would love you more because you would remind him of Theseus." Triton said. I finally understood why Triton hated me for so long.

"You're my big brother too, I look up to you so much. I could have never gotten this far without you. You and Tyson are more than brothers to me you're my best friends." I said sincerely.

Trition looked at me and smiled. "You're one of a kind Percy, I know you can make it through the training. Have faith in yourself and you'll do it." Triton said as he put his hand on my shoulder.

"Thank you, that means a lot." I said. Triton stood up and said, "I should go now you'll need to rest for tomorrow. Good night, Perce." Triton said as he left my apartment,

I just sat in my room for a while and thought of tomorrow. I had to pass this lesson I had to do it for myself, and most of all for Annabeth. I couldn't let her down I will overcome, I thought. I went to sleep early that night and I wish I could say that I didn't dream, but that would be a lie. I dreamed of fighting, war and the loss of friends. It was definitely a nightmare, but I hoped it wasn't an omen of things to come.

_**Hope you enjoyed this filler chapter, lesson three begins next chapter.**_


	9. The Plain of Despair

Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians

_**AN: Four months after Percy left Camp Half Blood for Atlantis**_

Chapter 9: The Plain of Despair

**Percy's POV**

I awoke the next morning feeling more anxious than before. I did get some rest last night even though I had a few nightmares. I cleaned and got dressed for the training lesson that I knew would begin today. This training would be unlike anything I had ever experienced before. I had to travel by foot three days across the expansive Plain of Despair. I had looked up this place on my computer terminal and read that it was basically a long plain in the deep Atlantic Ocean that was pretty much devoid of life. The Plain of Despair was only a few miles east of Atlantis and it stretched almost to the mid-oceanic ridge. I walked out of my apartment and headed toward the east gate of the city where I would meet my father and Triton. As I approached the large white marble and black lava stone walls I could see the shining white marble gate with its large celestial bronze doors. As I came closer to the gate I saw my dad and Triton waiting for me. They both looked nervous and I could tell they were as worried as I felt.

"Percy good morning son." Poseidon said.

"You don't look like you slept very well." Triton said concerned.

"Too worried about today." I said. They both looked at me and nodded with understanding.

My dad raised his trident and his chariot pulled by four Hippocampi appeared in front of us.

"Get on." Poseidon said. Triton and I boarded the chariot as soon as we were on the chariot raced forward through the water at incredible speed. The chariot was made of celestial bronze with images of sea creatures carved into the sides. As we traveled the chariot glowed with the blue-green energy that always surrounded my father. It only took a few minutes to reach the spot where my training would begin. As we landed on the edge of the Plain of Despair I could see the long plain that seemed to stretch on forever in the distance. The ground was covered with light colored sand and there were very few rocks or anything just sand. I did not see any underwater hills or mountains in the distance. It was like this place stretched on into infinity. The main thing that stood out to me was that there were no sea creatures visible anywhere. It was like this place was the underwater version of the underworld. I could see nothing alive at all.

"I'm sorry son, but we need to place these on your ankles." Poseidon said. My father and brother placed a pair of celestial bronze ankle bracelets on me. They really weren't heavy so I didn't know how they were going to keep me from swimming.

"These are pretty light, how can they stop me from swimming?" I asked.

"Try" Triton said. I tried to swim, but my feet were always pulled back to the ground. I could run and jump, but when I tried to swim my feet were always pulled back down.

"You see these bracelets were created by Hephaestus and they are enchanted. They will not let you swim, but they will not impact you in any other way as you just proved." Poseidon said.

"So do I just start walking now?" I asked.

"I'm afraid not yet we need your weapons son." Poseidon said. Then I remembered I could only take the dagger and nothing else. I handed Triton my bracelet and Riptide.

'Take care of those for me I'll want them back." I said.

"Don't worry they'll be waiting for you." Triton said reassuringly.

"I guess I'm ready then." I said as I started to walk into the Plain of Despair. I waved good-bye to my father and brother. My new lesson was beginning and I had no clue what to expect.

I walked for a few hours and I still haven't seen one living creature, not seaweed, not coral, nothing. This place was dead and it was starting to give me the creeps. Maybe that's part of the lesson, Triton did say that I have to overcome the elements and one of those could be the barren environment. I tried to clear my thoughts regarding the loneliness and desolation of this place and continued forward.

After several more hours of walking I noticed that the plain became even darker. I started to hear whispering like someone was behind me. I turned around and of course no one was there. I had been walking for twelve hours and still I would hear faint whispering and noises, but I could never find there source. Someone could so easily get lost here, but as a son of Poseidon I always knew where I was and where I needed to go in the ocean. I think this time I was extremely grateful for that ability. I came upon a large rock, it was hard to tell the color, but I suspected it was a light brown. It was roughly the size of garbage truck so it was certainly the biggest rock that I had come across so far. I decided to camp here for the night. The rock would give me some protection from the elements, but not much. I sat down with my back propped up against the rock I took out my dagger and stuck it in the sand next to me. I closed my eyes and I was fast asleep.

I awoke with the nose of something loud and something that didn't sound friendly. I stood up and grabbed for my dagger, but it was gone. I heard the noise again it was on the other side of the rock. I carefully snuck around the rock making sure to keep an eye out for any movement. Suddenly a large mass stood up from behind the rock, it was huge maybe thirty feet in height. It had a huge mass where its head should be and then it stepped into the dim light of the plain and I froze. It was the largest minotaur I had ever seen and I had seen plenty of them in my time. It looked at me with its dark brown eyes and I could see fire behind those eyes, like the fires of Tartarus itself. I tried to back up, I tried to defend myself, but my feet were stuck. At first I thought it was the ankle bracelets, but then I looked down toward my feet and I saw the sand, it was thick like mud now. The mud was so thick and sticky that my feet were rooted to the ground. The minotaur reached toward me with its large hand and I felt its vice like grip around my waist. It was squeezing the life out of me, I could hardly breathe my ribs ached under the pressure. I felt like I was going to break in half at any moment, but then the minotaur did something I didn't expect, it spoke.

"Where are your friends now Perseus?" The minotaur said in a deep gravelly voice. Can minotaurs talk? Since when I thought. I couldn't speak he was crushing me, but then his grip relaxed a little like it wanted me to say something.

"Release me" I yelled. The minotaur just stared at me and then it smiled, I couldn't believe it, but the damn thing smiled at me.

"You are mine you have always been mine boy." The minotaur said. This can't be happening, minotaurs can't talk. They can't smile, they're monsters and they certainly aren't intelligent ones. The minotaur's grip weakened again. That's it this isn't real this is a dream or something else, but it's not real.

"You're not real you're a dream a nightmare. Leave now I order you." I said. The minotaurs face changed to a look of surprise it dropped me to the ground and I landed with a loud thud. I looked up and the minotaur was gone. Then I heard the voice, it was dark almost deranged. It sounded like a combination of Kronos's voice and another voice that was so familiar, but strangely disturbing.

"Good Perseus, but I sense much fear in you, so much glorious fear and despair." The evil voice said.

"Where are you?" I asked the evil voice. It didn't answer, but then I heard laughing at first it sounded like Kronos, but then I realized it was darker almost pure darkness. The laugh made me feel weak and helpless.

I closed my eyes and when I opened them I was surrounded by stone statues and then I recognized the place and one name came to mind, Medusa. I shut my eyes tight and I started to tremble, then I heard her voice.

"Perseus, so good to see you my dear, let me see those beautiful eyes, so like your father's I hear." Medusa said. I couldn't believe it, she can't be here.

"You're not real I cut off your head." I yelled.

"I'm here my handsome hero please look into my beautiful eyes." Medusa said as I felt her breath on my face and I felt the snakes in her hair, then something strange occurred, the snakes talked. All at once the snakes spoke.

"I feel your glorious fear, I sense your hopelessness. It feels so good." The snakes said. The snakes can't talk this is all fake it's not real.

"You're not real, none of this is real. You can't hurt me, leave now." I yelled. I slowly opened my eyes and Medusa wasn't there, then I heard the voice again.

"Give into your fear Perseus. Let the fear wash over you, I can help you control it if you let me." The evil voice said temptingly.

"No I will not let you control me, I control my own destiny I don't need you're help." I yelled.

"Oh, you'll beg for my help before this is over. I will never leave you alone. I will always be here, can you say the same for your friends and family." The evil voice said ominously.

Suddenly I saw flashes and images run through my mind images that were familiar, but scenes that I don't remember. First I saw my mom, she was yelling at me saying I was the worst thing that ever happened to her, then my dad saying that I'm not worthy to be his son, Theseus telling me how disappointed he was and that he wished I wasn't his brother, and then Annabeth saying that she didn't love me that she wished I would just leave. My heart felt like it was ripping out of my chest, I couldn't breathe. I started to panic and then I jumped up and my eyes opened. I was no longer in the pitch blackness of the night, but I could see a dim light from above as some light from the surface made its way to where I sat in the sand with my back propped up against the rock. It was morning now, everything had been a dream. I found my dagger stuck in the sand next to me, I grabbed it and placed it back in the scabbard attached to my ankle. I stood up, but I felt more tired than when I laid down last night. I knew I needed to keep going, so I slowly walked forward. Those dreams and images were so real, it was unlike any dream I had before. Are these dreams part of this place and who was the voice, I thought. I couldn't get that voice out of my head I kept repeating what it had told me, _Oh, you'll beg for my help before this is over._

_**I hope you enjoyed this first part of Percy's travels in the Plain of Despair. Who or what is the evil voice, I wonder?**_


	10. Unusual Teacher

Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians

_**AN: Over four months after Percy left Camp Half Blood for Atlantis**_

Chapter 10: Unusual Teacher

**Percy's POV**

I walked for a couple more hours, I was so tired. Even though I had a full nights sleep I felt like I hadn't slept in weeks. As I continued on my course toward the eastern end of the Plain of Despair I saw a large object moving toward me. Am I seeing things or is this real I thought. Something alive moving towards me, at this moment if it was a water drakon I would be happy to see it. The object was large and it swam at a decent speed toward me, then I recognized the shape, it was a shark. The shark came closer and at about fifty yards away I realized it was a great white. The shark was at least twenty feet in length. Then I heard the shark talk to me, _Hello young prince. _I realized this is the shark that helped Theseus and the one I saw on my last quest.

"Hello, we keep meeting what is your name?" I asked curiously.

_My name is Thalassa._

"Thalassa, but that is the name of an ancient sea goddess. Are you an ancient goddess?" I asked.

_Yes, after the destruction of my husband Pontus by our nephew Oceanus I was cursed to remain in a body of a sea creature for all eternity because I did not support Oceanus in his efforts to defeat the Olympians._

"That's terrible, I'm sorry." I said.

_It is not your concern my boy, you and Theseus did us all a favor by destroying Oceanus and his cruelty. I know you make your father proud. I am happy to call you and Theseus friend._

"Why are you here? I didn't think anything lived here." I said curiously.

_I don't live here, my home is in the Mediterranean, but I heard you may need some assistance so I have come to help you if I can._

"I'm on a training mission an old lesson about fear from Sparta." I said.

_Ah yes, I remember you're on a dangerous path my prince. You must be careful or your own fear could destroy you._

"How can my own fear destroy me?" I asked.

_It's not just your fear, but it is the temptation to give in to it, to give in to your negative side. Each one of us has a dark side, a part of us that thrives on negative emotions such as anger and fear. There is a light side a good side that thrives on the opposite emotions such as love and happiness._

"You mean that evil voice I here, that's me?" I asked not believing it.

_It's not really evil, but it could sound that way. Most likely it combines your voice with that of another voice that at least to you personifies darkness or evil._

"That's why it sounds somewhat like Kronos." I said.

_You must not say his name, I'm sure others have told you that names have power. For example did you know that your name means destruction or to destroy?_

"I never knew that, I just though it was the name of a hero a son of Zeus." I said worriedly.

_You are much like your brother Theseus, but in other ways you are more powerful maybe even more dangerous._

"Why is that?" I asked.

_You know about your powers as a son of Poseidon. You're abilities with water, with earthquakes and storms makes you incredibly strong. Water in particular is necessary for life. Not all creatures use oxygen, but everything needs water at least at a limited degree. Children of Zeus are very powerful as well, but they control lightning and thereby electricity, so they could over power a nervous system for example, but they can't boil or freeze the blood in your body like a child of Poseidon can for example._

"What about atoms or molecular structure, wouldn't children of Zeus be able to control that stuff?" I asked.

_No, that's not Zeus's power he's not god of atoms or even gravity for that matter. He is the god of the sky so he can control lightning, he can control wind, and he has omnipotence because he can see over the whole world, but he doesn't have power in the cosmos. Kronos controlled time, which is incredibly powerful. The greatest power was that of Oranos my brother, he was the ancient god of the cosmos. He had power over atomic structures and most importantly over gravity itself. At his height in power he could create and control the greatest destructive force in the universe, black holes._

"I never knew that, I remember Theseus's power when he was merged with Oranos's spirit, he could fly and he was able to destroy Typhon in the end." I said.

_Exactly, he was able to destroy a monster that no titan, nor god or group of them could destroy. His power was truly incredible._

"Then how was he defeated?" I asked curiously.

_He was betrayed by those that he loved, namely his wife and children. He did make the mistake of placing them in Tartarus until he could figure out whom the evil child was, but he didn't found out until the Titans rebelled and Kronos's deception led to his downfall. I heard from Theseus that in the end Oranos repented for his actions against his children, I only wish his son would do the same._

"The gods don't know all of this?" I asked.

_Probably not as much as you do now, but Theseus knows most of what I told you._

"I know no one is allowed to help with this lesson, but could you provide some advice to me?" I asked hopefully.

_All I can say young prince is that you are as strong as your brother maybe stronger, but there is much good and kindness in your spirit. Rely on the goodness within you, the darkness within you will try to convince you that your friends and family don't care for you, do not believe that. Fear can be overcome and eventually the darkness within you as well. You're training with Theseus has not only provided you with great benefits it has also allowed the darkness within you to grow stronger. Only the goodness, the positive aspects of your spirit can stop it. I must leave now, good luck to you my prince. I pray to the gods that you will succeed._

"Thank you Thalassa, good-bye." I said as I watched the large shark or goddess swim away. She had provided the best advice I had received this entire lesson. I continued my travels to the east. I was a little more than half way to the eastern boundary. My legs felt like rubber and I didn't know if I could make it, but I walked for another four hours before I found a small boulder that was about the size of the Prius that my mom and Paul had given me. I sat down with my back against the boulder. This time I left my dagger in its scabbard. I closed my eyes and tried to sleep.

I opened my eyes and I was no longer next to the boulder I was back at camp and I remembered this day. I had just returned from the mission to sink the Andromeda and was feeling terrible over the death of Beckindorf. I saw myself walking to the big house with Annabeth; we were following Chiron and several other campers. Next thing I know I was reading the prophecy; it scared me and I saw the worried look on my face. Then the scene skipped ahead to Annabeth and I walking back from the big house and Annabeth telling me that I was scared and that I was a coward. I felt that fear, the anger, the resentment and most of all the shame. I was scared even though Beckindorf gave his life to save me and many others had before him like Daedalus and Zoë. I felt terrible that I was scared to fulfill the prophecy when so many had sacrificed for me to be here. I felt myself shiver and the fear was once again present and everything went black.

I opened my eyes again and I saw myself in the River Styx, I felt my body dissolving and I felt the fear of dying. My body was being eaten away by the river the fear was incredible. Then the scene shifted and I was kneeling over Annabeth, she had been hurt saving me. We were back on the bridge during the Battle of Manhattan. A poison dagger, one that was aimed for my Achilles heel, had stabbed her. She saved me, but now she was injured. I was so scare that I would never be able to tell her how I felt about her or never be able to see her face again. The fear was incredible I didn't know what to do, but then I heard a voice, it was Thalassa, I remembered her telling me,

_It's not just your fear, but it is the temptation to give in to it, to give in to your negative side. Each one of us has a dark side, a part of us that thrives on negative emotions such as anger and fear. There is a light side a good side that thrives on the opposite emotions such as love and happiness._

I can beat this feeling with the opposite emotions. I remembered the image of Annabeth pulling me out of the Styx, I remembered her as the person who grounded me to my mortal life. She was the reason I wanted to live. I remembered my friends Nico, Thalia, Tyson, Grover and Thalia. They were all my friends and we had been through so much together. Then I remembered Theseus and what it was like to be his twin brother and then I realized something, something that I should have realized before it was something so simple. I knew why we were twins now; it just hit me, a piece of inspiration. I 'm not sure how, but I knew that my mom Sally was the reincarnation of Aethra. I knew my mom didn't know this and probably no one did, but somehow I figured that out. I suddenly awoke from the dream and I was sitting with my back against the boulder. I had made it through hopefully my last night. The voice didn't say a word to me, but it must have been the one that showed me those horrible images and half memories. I don't know how I had discovered the truth about my mom, but just thinking of Theseus at that moment of weakness, somehow that led me to that realization. I stood up and began to walk towards the east I was several hours away from finishing this lesson and I felt very good for the first time on this journey.

"I think I conquered my fear, I conquered the darkness within me." I said out loud to nobody.

_Don't count on it! _The voice said in my head, damn I'm so close. I will not give up, I can't.

_**I hope you enjoyed this chapter I wanted to answer a question regarding the discussion about children of Poseidon and children of Zeus. First, I think Percy and Theseus are special cases with regard to the amount of power they have similar to Poseidon. I think it has a lot to do with their similarities to Poseidon himself as discussed by Triton earlier. So not all children of Poseidon will have the same level of powers. I think the same thing could be said for the children of Zeus as well. So maybe Thalia can control lightning and electricity, but she can't control the winds for example. Lastly, the idea of Sally as a reincarnated version of Aethra (Theseus's mother is courtesy of a reviewer: Cephas144, thank you for the great idea). Now that we know that the voice is Percy's dark side how will he overcome it? Well that's for me to figure out for you to read.**_


	11. A Positive and Negative Reaction

Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians

_**AN: Over four months after Percy left Camp Half Blood for Atlantis**_

Chapter 11: A Positive and Negative Reaction

**Percy's POV**

"I think I conquered my fear. I conquered the darkness within me." I said out loud to nobody.

_Don't count on it! _The voice said in my head. Damn I'm so close. I will not give up, I can't.

I continued walking toward the east I had only a few hours left until I reached the east boundary of the Plain of Despair. One problem, my feet felt like they were made of cement and I was so tired. I can't make it I thought, but I'm so close now just a few more hours.

_I can help you. _The voice said. I have to ignore it I can't let it get to me. It would be so easy just to give in and allow the darkness within me to take over.

I forced myself to walk further. I tried my best to stay focused and to not give in to my dark side. I could feel it pushing against my control. I focused on my center on my strength. I used the ADHD part of me for energy, anything I could do to move forward. I tried everything, except giving in to my dark side.

I walked for two more hours and then I saw it, the boundary the edge of the plain. I kept walking forward I felt hope rise inside of me. I could see two small figures standing at the boundary. They had to be my dad and Triton. I focused and continued to walk slowly forward.

_Mount Olympus_

**Annabeth's POV**

My mom wanted to see me. I didn't have a whole lot of time to chat unfortunately. I just stopped by to check on my recent plans for the new temple for Demeter, but I received this note from my mom to meet her and Theseus in the garden outside the throne room. I walked into the garden; it was as beautiful as ever with thousands of multi-colored flowers and huge oak trees. Sitting under one of the trees was my mom and Theseus. They stood as they saw me and I ran to greet them. Theseus and Athena both hugged me.

"It's so good to see both of you." I said happily.

"I'm sorry I wasn't able to go to you're first day at Columbia. How was you're first week so far?" Athena said.

"It's been pretty hectic, but my architecture class is great, but the others are just general education requirements, so pretty boring." I said.

"Well they need to make sure you're a well rounded student." Theseus said with a smile and wink that told me that he thought that they were a waste of time as well. My mom just rolled her eyes and elbowed him.

"Not so fast, Annabeth needs the full college experience and that includes general education requirements." Athena said. Theseus just raised his hands in surrender, but he was smiling the entire time.

"Have you seen Demeter? I wanted to give her these plans to review before I leave." I said anxiously, I needed to get back to school before it became dark outside.

"She's probably inside the throne room. Come on let's go find her." Theseus said as he motioned for my mom and me to follow him. We walked into the beautiful white marble throne room. I always got a chill going into this building. It was so big and beautiful. I was so happy that I was allowed to design the new wing for the minor gods. We entered the main throne room and sitting around a large screen, it looked like a television, but I could tell it was one of Hephaestus's monitors, I saw Zeus, Hera, Ares, Apollo, Dionysus, and Demeter. Theseus, Athena and I walked up and as we approached everyone almost jumped out of their seats when they saw us.

"Good afternoon, Theseus, Athena and Annabeth. Do you need assistance?" Zeus said formally. My mom just looked at her dad and I could tell that she knew he was up to something. The others who were sitting around him shied away from her glare.

"Well, at first Annabeth needed to give plans to Demeter, but now that I see all of you staring at that screen and looking guilty, what's going on?" Athena said as she glared at the other gods. I could tell Theseus was curious as well and since I'm a daughter of Athena I would be lying if I said that I wasn't.

The three of us walked over and looked at the screen and what we saw shocked us completely. It was a view of Percy walking or struggling to walk it looked like every step was agony for him. He looked beyond exhausted.

"What in Hades is going on?" Theseus yelled at the assembled group of gods, all of them looked scared even Zeus, which I personally thought was amazing, but I forget that a mad Theseus is something no one should ever see except for a titan whose ready to die.

"Nephew this is part of Percy's training, it's perfectly alright." Zeus said calmly, but I could tell he was a little nervous.

"What kind of training is this?" Athena asked. I knew my mom would be curious, I sure was.

"It's a lesson on overcoming ones fear, isn't that right father?" Apollo said as he looked at Zeus. Zeus stared daggers at Apollo who turned from his father's gaze.

"You didn't do it, did you? You did, you used me and I told you about this training method." Athena said bitterly.

"I'm sorry my dear, but Percy needs to confront his fear just like he overcame his anger. This Spartan lesson in controlling fear is his third one he only has two lessons left." Zeus said.

"He's undertaking the Spartan lesson, that's been outlawed for two thousand years at least. That training method is barbaric if it doesn't kill you it drives you mad." Theseus said angrily. I felt myself freeze Percy could die in this training. I was just worried about him being gone for a year. I didn't know he could die doing it.

"It's alright he's almost completed it, he just has another mile to walk and he will reach Poseidon and Triton." Zeus said as everyone stared back at the screen. I stared at the screen as well. Percy looked so tired, I had never seen him look so exhausted. He looked like the life had been drained out of him, but still he walked. I didn't know how he was able to do it.

"What is that head band he's wearing?" I asked. I never saw it before.

"I built it you see it severs the mental link between Percy and Theseus." Hephaestus said.

"That mental link is the entire reason Percy has to do this training. This link needs to be permanently severed. Percy has been drawing power directly from Theseus that cannot be allowed. Percy is mortal he cannot handle that much power it could destroy him as well as those around him. I'm sorry for keeping you all in the dark, but I didn't want any interference with his training." Zeus said sincerely.

"Father, I don't approve of your methods, but I understand the need for this, but there are other techniques to train to overcome fear, this method is a mistake." Athena said worriedly.

"I understand your concern, but Percy has almost completed it and I know he looks exhausted, but he will have plenty of time to rest before he undertakes his fourth lesson." Zeus said.

"What is this fourth lesson uncle?" Theseus asked. I could tell he was still angry, but he controlled his emotions well.

"The band will allow us to separate the dark or negative side of Percy's mind from the light or positive side." Hephaestus said.

"How can that be done?" Athena said.

"By physically separating Percy into his positive and negative aspects, these parts of his mind will manifest into two actual entities. They will confront each other and Percy's training will allow his positive side to overcome the negative." Hephaestus said.

"He will fight himself?" I asked.

"Yes, these three lessons; one to control his powers fully, second to overcome anger and this third one to overcome fear. These lessons have led up to the fourth lesson, his confrontation between the positive and negative aspects. This conflict will do two things; one it will permanently sever the mental link between Percy and Theseus, and lastly it will ensure that Percy is in control of his negative side. The problem we discovered with the link between Percy and Theseus was that the link was being used to draw power from Theseus into Percy. This power was not being used solely for battle, but was being siphoned to strengthen the negative side of Percy. If we left this unchecked I'm afraid Percy would be ruled by his negative side. He would no longer be a hero, but could actually become a villain, possibly even a threat to all of us." Zeus said.

I was stunned Percy controlled by his negative emotions. How could he become a threat to others? How could he become evil?

I looked at my mother and I could tell that she agreed with her father. Theseus even looked like he fully understood now as well.

"Could that actually happen?" I asked my mom.

"My dear, I'm afraid that it could." Athena said.

"This is my fault, I let this happen." Theseus said.

"No, you had no way of knowing that this link could do that. It wasn't a problem until you became of god." Zeus said reassuringly.

"Look he made it." I yelled. The screen showed Percy reaching the boundary of the Plain of Despair. He was greeted by Poseidon and Triton. Hephaestus turned up the volume on the display.

Percy walked up to his father and brother and collapsed to his knees. Triton grabbed him before he could completely fall to the ground.

"You did it my boy, you've made it." Poseidon said with relief as he touched Percy on the shoulder. Percy looked up at his father and brother, he smiled slightly. He looked so tired it really looked like he was holding back a flood or something incredibly powerful. Then I saw something flicker through Poseidon's face. Something bad was about to happen, I just knew it.

Percy began to glow it wasn't the blue-green aura of Poseidon, it wasn't the golden aura of the other gods, it wasn't the orange aura of Oranos, it was a dark aura it was as black as night and it suddenly exploded from inside of Percy. Poseidon and Triton were thrown fifty feet from where Percy kneeled on the ground. I couldn't see Percy he was engulfed in the darkness and then it slowly dissipated. What I saw in front of me shocked me to my core. There were two Percy's now.

One Percy had long hair down passed his shoulder, his skin had a light tan and his eyes were the vibrant beautiful green that I loved so dearly. He looked incredibly tired, but he was standing. The second Percy was standing about ten feet from the first. He was staring directly at the first Percy. This Percy had shorter, but still messy jet black hair, his skin was a darker tan he looked like he had been in the sun everyday for months. His eyes were the disturbing part they were a very dark green almost black in color. His eyes made me visibly shiver and as I looked around me the faces of the gods were equally disturbed.

"This can't happen, Hephaestus the head band you didn't start lesson four?" Zeus said demandingly.

"I swear father, I didn't. I don't know what's happening." Hephaestus said. He looked scared and he looked like he had no clue what happened.

"I warned you this lesson would end badly. It looks like Percy is so weak that the negative side has manifested itself, on its own. Your head band is useless now." Athena said as she eyed Theseus. Suddenly, Hephaestus jumped up and placed an extra headband on Theseus's head.

"What's this for?" Theseus demanded.

"I'm afraid it's a precaution, we don't want Percy's negative side to tap into your power." Hephaestus said. Theseus nodded in agreement and I could see my mom sigh in relief.

We looked back at the screen and Hephaestus turned the volume up again. The first Percy just looked at the second with his mouth open in total disbelief. The second Percy just looked at the first and opened his mouth and a laugh that I never heard before escaped, it was pure hatred, pain and evil. The voice sounded like a mix of Percy's with someone else's and then I realized who that other person was it was Kronos. I noticed my mom and Theseus both staring at the screen in disbelief. Zeus looked at the second Percy with anger now.

"I should have known my father would have something to do with this, but he's in the underworld still. This must be Percy's dark side using Percy's fear and hatred of Kronos against the positive Percy." Zeus said.

The first Percy looked at the second Percy and said calmly, "My name is Percy Jackson, who are you?"

The second Percy smiled, it was smile I had never seen on Percy's face it was angry, dark, it was filled with pure hate. "My name is Perseus Jackson, the destroyer." The second Percy said. He pronounced each syllable as if each word was like a bomb going off.

"What do you want?" Percy asked.

"I want control, isn't that obvious." Perseus said.

"Control of what?" Percy asked.

"Everything, but I will start with our body first." Perseus said.

"Our body, what are you talking about?" Percy asked.

"We are two parts of the same being Percy. You are the weak link with all of your regard for friendship, loyalty, happiness and love. I am the strength and the power. I use emotions like anger, hatred and even fear. I want control and I will have it." Perseus said.

"I know you now you're the voice that kept telling me to give into you this entire trip across the Plain of Despair." Percy said.

"Of course I am it took you long enough I guess I'm also the brains of this operation as well." Perseus said with an evil smile.

"I will never let you take control, never." Percy yelled. Percy charged Perseus and tried to punch him, but Perseus was too fast. He ducked and then did a spin move and kicked Percy directly in the ribs. Percy fell to the ground clutching his side in pain.

"You're too weak Percy. You've always relied on my strength. You'll never be able to beat me. I almost pity you, but since I hate you I guess I will make this last a little longer." Perseus said as he stood over Percy and slapped him hard across the face.

Percy looked up and he was bleeding visibly from his mouth now, I started to cry and my mom put her arm around me. The other gods were mad and worried. Zeus looked terrible he kept shaking his head and murmuring to himself. I never saw him that way before. Theseus just stared at Percy almost like he was trying to will him to stand up.

"Leave him alone." Poseidon yelled from behind Perseus. Perseus turned to face Poseidon and I saw the look of pure disbelief on Poseidon's face as he realized that there were two Percy's or two beings that looked like him at least.

"Father, I see you had the common decency to wake up to see me destroy Percy here." Perseus said as he pointed to Percy lying on the ground.

"You're Percy too." Poseidon said, I could tell he was confused he missed the entire introduction between Percy and Perseus.

"No, he's Percy, I'm Perseus. I wish you would keep up with the goings on father." Perseus said. Perseus walked over to Triton who was trying to stand up.

"Let me give you a hand brother." Perseus said as he grabbed Triton and for an instant I thought he was going to help Triton, but the next instant he slung Triton at an incredible speed toward Poseidon. Poseidon and Triton collided and it was like two meteors hitting each other. The collision was incredible I saw Poseidon and Triton on the ground. Poseidon was still conscious, but Triton was out cold.

"Dad, go please before he hurts one of you, please." Percy yelled to Poseidon. Poseidon looked at Percy, he shook his head.

"I won't leave you here with that." Poseidon yelled as he pointed toward Perseus.

"You have to this is my fight. Take Triton to safety please." Percy said as he stood up, I could see that he was still shaky, but he was still able to stand up.

Poseidon grabbed Triton and I could see the pain in Poseidon's eyes, he wanted to stay, but he had to take Triton to safety. Poseidon grabbed Triton by the arm and then they both dissolved into a blue-green mist, suddenly they appeared here in the throne room. Apollo ran to Triton and helped him sit up, Poseidon walked over to Zeus he looked pissed.

"Brother, look what your training has caused." Poseidon said, I thought he was going to start punching Zeus at any moment. Zeus looked up at him and Poseidon's gaze softened when he saw the pain and guilt in Zeus's eyes.

"I'm sorry brother, I never meant for it to go this wrong." Zeus said. I never heard that much emotion or pain in his voice. Poseidon just looked at him and then he did something I never would have expected he hugged Zeus.

"I know you didn't mean for it to go this wrong, but it has and I have no idea how to correct it." Poseidon said as he held his younger brother. They pulled apart and continued to watch the screen as the scene continued to unfold before us. I couldn't move my mom held me, but I was frozen watching the screen. Tears continued to pour from my eyes. Everyone else just stared at the screen.

"Well, well the cowards have left you all alone Percy. I told you that your family would leave you when you needed them most. You really should have listened to me earlier, now I'm afraid that your lesson will be a truly painful one." Perseus said. He walked to Percy who was standing only a few feet away. Perseus stood only a few inches away from Percy, they were both looking into each others eyes.

"You know that I'm stronger, you know that anger and fear are too strong for you to defeat. I'm too powerful for you to beat in battle. You must realize that now." Perseus said. I could see something flash in Percy's eyes, he can't be agreeing with Perseus. He has to fight.

"You're right Perseus, how can I fight you. We are each part of the same being. Why should I hate you? Why should I be afraid of you? I'm so sorry." Percy said as he engulfed Perseus in a hug. I could see the surprised look on Perseus's face. I didn't know what Percy was doing, was he giving in to his dark side?

"What are you doing?" Perseus said as he tried to break free from Percy's hug, but Percy just kept holding on to him.

"What's wrong Perseus? Are you afraid of me? We are the same being as you said. We shouldn't hate each other. In fact I love you Perseus." Percy said as he continued to hold onto Perseus. Suddenly a bright light started to erupt around Percy it started off as a dim glow, but increased in intensity. I saw the look of panic on Perseus's face. He was scared he didn't know what to do. Percy's hold on him was incredible. The light continued to increase in intensity until a huge eruption of light occurred filling the screen before us. Everyone in the throne room had to look away from the intensely bright light. The light began to fade and when it was completely gone the screen restored itself so we could see the scene on the edge of the Plain of Despair. A lone figure was lying on the ground, it was Percy. There was no sign of Perseus whatsoever. Percy looked so peaceful.

"He's not?" I said. As if in answer to my question Poseidon disappeared in a blue-green mist and the next thing I knew we were all watching Poseidon appear on the screen before us. He rushed to Percy's side and knelt down beside Percy's still form. Poseidon grabbed Percy and held him in his harms. Poseidon checked Percy's pulse and I could see the relief wash over his face. Percy was alive. Everyone in the throne room let out a collective sigh of relief.

"Percy, wake up son are you alright?" Poseidon said as he tried to wake Percy.

Percy's eyelids moved slightly and then he moved his head a little. He opened his eyes and they were the beautiful blue-green color that I loved. He looked at Poseidon and said, "Who are you?" Poseidon just stared at him in disbelief.

"I'm your father." Poseidon said. Poseidon looked very concerned. Percy just looked at him as if in a daze. He scrunched his forehead as if trying to think of something.

"I'm sorry I can't remember." Percy said sadly.

"Do you know who you are?" Poseidon asked carefully. I could tell that Percy was trying to think hard about that question.

"I don't know who I am, can you help me?" Percy said. I thought my heart was going to jump out of my chest. I started to cry again and my mother engulfed me in a hug. What was wrong with him?

"Yes son, I will help you." Poseidon said. I looked back toward the screen and I could see Poseidon hugging Percy tightly, tears were flowing down Poseidon's face. During this entire ordeal I thought I would lose Percy, but just when I thought he was safe the fates pulled him away from me again. Percy was alive, but if he couldn't remember his own name and his own father, how was he going to remember me?

_**This was the longest chapter of this story so far. This was a hard chapter to write so I hope you all enjoyed it, more to come.**_


	12. Starting Over

Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians

_**AN: Over five months since Percy left Camp Half Blood for Atlantis**_

Chapter 12: Starting Over

_Atlantis_

**Percy's POV**

It's been a couple of weeks since my accident or whatever it was. I still don't remember anything. Poseidon who says he's my father tells me that I didn't always live under the sea. I don't know about that I have no memories of living outside the ocean. My father says that he is the god of the sea and by the way people around the city treat him I would have to say that he is a god. Amphitrite, Poseidon's wife is my stepmother I guess at least that's what I'm told. She treats me just like her son in other words she's very over protective. My brothers at least that's who they tell me they are have been showing me around the city. Atlantis is an incredible place, I do love it here, but I feel that something important is missing, actually several important things feel missing. I'm sitting right now in my apartment. Nothing looks familiar at all, but the place is comfortable. I hope I remember something soon, I try to remember but I only end up with a splitting headache. One thing I have enjoyed are my training sessions with Triton, I feel so comfortable with a sword in my hand. The sword that I have turns into a pen when I put the cap on it and vice a versa it's really cool. Triton has been showing me how to fight and he is a really good teacher. He says that before the accident I was a great fighter, but I can't remember any of that. I opened the door to my apartment and walked towards the training center. Training helps take my mind off my memory issues and I need a break right about now.

_Mount Olympus_

**Annabeth's POV**

When I'm not in school I'm here in my office on Mount Olympus. I'm revising the plans for the Demeter temple and they are coming along very well. Working takes my mind off my troubles, well one trouble in particular Percy Jackson. I have done nothing but work in school and here in my office for the past two weeks since the accident, that's what we are all calling it. I haven't heard anything about Percy since that day and I've tried to avoid thinking of him, but my mind always wonders back to him. I love him more than anything on this earth, but after the accident he lost all of his memories. He doesn't know who he is or anyone else for that matter. I know he's still in Atlantis Poseidon has been trying to help him. I pray every night to all of the gods that Percy's memories will return, but I don't know what happens if they don't? I jumped almost out of my seat as someone knocked on my door waking me up from my thoughts.

"Come in." I said.

"Annabeth, you are in here my dear." Athena said as she walked into my office.

"Hello mom." I said as I gave her a hug.

"It looks like you've been working hard. How are you?" Athena said and I could tell she knew I wasn't well.

"Mom, what happens if he never regains his memories?" I asked sadly. My mom just looked at me and I could tell that she was forcing a smile, but she pulled it off.

"Percy will remember we have to hope for the best." Athena said reassuringly.

"I know, but my mind always wants me to accept the possibility and I know it is a real one." I said.

"I know I always said that thinking is more important than feeling, but I have learned a tough lesson and that is sometimes feeling is more important than thinking. I believe that it is time to feel more than think." Athena said as she put her arm around me. I felt a little better.

"I guess the result could have been worse, he could have died." I said.

My mom just looked at me and I could tell that she didn't want to think about Percy or anyone in her family dying.

"Well, Percy has made it through four lessons and I have one good piece of news." Athena said.

"What is that mom?" I said hopefully.

"After the accident we discovered that the link between Percy and Theseus has been severed." Athena said.

"So does that mean that there is no need for the fifth lesson?" I asked.

"No, not exactly. Zeus and I with assistance from Apollo, Hephaestus, Theseus and Poseidon are working on a possible solution to the amnesia, hopefully when the plan is finalized Percy will conduct a different fifth lesson and he will regain his memories." Athena said.

"That's great, but how dangerous is this lesson?" I asked worriedly.

"Well the plan has not been finished, but I'm afraid that it's not without danger." Athena said.

"I hope my grandfather doesn't mess this plan up." I said not really meaning to say it out loud. Athena just looked at me and frowned.

"Annabeth, Zeus knows that he messed things up and he is doing everything he can to correct this problem. He feels bad enough without us making him feel worse." Athena said reprimanding me for my harsh tone.

"I'm sorry mom, it's just easier to blame him than to just think this was fated to happen." I said.

"I know it is, but placing blame won't help Percy. You have done great work here on Olympus and at school you have made me very proud." Athena said as she gave me a reassuring hug.

"Does anyone know why he lost his memory?" I asked.

"Well, I have spoken to Apollo about this and he thinks that Percy is repressing memories and they are not lost, which should give us all hope that his memories will return. Apollo believes that Percy has suffered so much mental trauma during his training with the combination of being split into two entities and then reforming again into one. Apollo thinks that all of that was too much for his mind to deal with. Therefore, Percy's own mind is shielding the pain from him." Athena said.

"I guess that makes sense, but will the plan you all are working on help to unblock his memories?" I asked hopefully.

"We hope so, but we need to finalize it first then we will see, I have to go dear the other gods are expecting me. I love you and stay positive, we'll get Percy back." Athena said confidently as she walked out the door. I smiled to myself and hoped for the best.

I went back to work on the blueprints and after about an hour I rolled the plans up and I was about to leave to go back to school when I heard someone clear their throat. I turned around and I was confronted with an Iris Message image of Triton.

"Triton is everything alright?" I asked worriedly.

"Everything is going alright, I wanted to give you a heads up on Percy." Triton said.

"How is he?' I asked.

"Well, he still doesn't remember anyone, but I've been training him and I noticed something." Triton said.

"What is it?" I asked.

"He's really picked up the combat training easily almost like subconsciously he remembers everything. His skill is still there and when I teach him a new move he can repeat it perfectly on the first try. I just wanted to let you know that. I think it's a good sign." Triton said.

"It is good thank you for letting me know that makes me feel better. Like there's hope he'll remember everything." I said.

"Good, don't worry we'll keep training and showing him things, but we'll get to a point where he'll have to leave here because there are so many things outside of Atlantis and the ocean that he needs to be reminded of." Triton said.

"I know do you think I can see him sometime soon?" I asked hopefully.

"I'll talk to dad, I don't know. We need to make sure first that he can defend himself before we send him into a world full of monsters. I have to go, take care Annabeth, I'll be in touch." Triton said.

"Thank you" I said. I waved my hand through the mist and the message faded. I hope Triton's right. I stood up and walked out of my office and headed to school. This is the first day that I was actually hopeful for Percy's recovery. I knew my mom had a plan and that Percy's family would do whatever they could to help him. All of that made me feel better, I hope this feeling lasts, I thought.

_**A little filler chapter to explain the amnesia, the breaking of the mental link between Percy and Theseus, and that there is a plan to help Percy. I wonder what the plan is that Athena and the others are working on, we'll see soon enough.**_


	13. A New Lesson

Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians

_**AN: Over eight months since Percy left Camp Half Blood for Atlantis**_

Chapter 12: A New Lesson

_Atlantis_

**Percy's POV**

It has been over three months since the accident. I still can't remember anything, but Triton tells me that I must remember my combat training because I'm very good and that surprised him. I guess for someone who doesn't remember anything, it's hard to believe that with only a few months training I can beat my big immortal brother in sword fighting. Maybe Triton is on to something maybe I do remember some things. My only problem is that if I do remember then it is more like a reflex or an instinct, instead of a specific memory. I was torn away from my thoughts by a knock on my apartment door. I opened the door and saw my brother Triton standing before me, he smiled at me, but I could tell he was worried about something. I don't know how, but I have these little visions of insight every once in a while and right now I sense that Triton's worried about something.

"Hey Perce, Dad wants to see us." Triton said. Triton calls me Perce he says that was his name for me before the accident. I don't care really its nice that we were both close enough to have nicknames. Triton told me that I use to call him Tri.

"Tri are you alright, you seem worried about something?" I asked. I could sense a flash of surprise in Triton's eyes, but he hid it well.

"Well, I think dad has some news to tell us about your amnesia, there may be a way to reverse it. Let's go and find out." Triton said. I closed my door and followed him to our father's quarters. We walked down the long hallway that connected my apartment to the royal chambers. I still can't get over how beautiful Atlantis is. The windows along the corridor look out upon the depths of the ocean and I can see beautiful Hippocampi swimming and playing. We reached my fathers quarters and Triton knocked on the door. The door opened and my father stood before us. He was smiling broadly and wearing his usual multi-colored shirt and cream-colored shorts.

"My boys its good to see you come on in." Poseidon said as he motioned for us to come into his quarters. Triton and I sat on the couch and our father sat in a chair across from us. The royal chambers had white marble walls with a twenty-foot tall ceiling that was made of glass and showed the ocean surface above us. It was clearly daytime on the surface as I could see light streaming through the water above us.

"Dad, Triton says that you may have found a way to reverse my amnesia." I said hopefully. I gazed at my father to try to read his face. I could tell that he was anxious about something and that worried me.

"Well, yes my brother and some other Olympian gods have devised a plan to help you regain your memories." Poseidon said and I could tell that he wanted to tell me more.

"Dad is this plan dangerous, I sense that you want to tell me something?" I asked.

"Well, it's hard to hide anything from you. You level of perception has increased incredibly since the accident. You remind me of my daughter-in-law, she's very perceptive as well, but in a more calculative way." Poseidon said.

"So there is more to this plan than you're telling me." I said, Dad never told me about this daughter-in-law before. She certainly isn't married to Triton or Tyson. I must have another brother that I haven't met yet.

"Yes, there is son. How would like to take a trip to Mount Olympus? I think it is time that you met the rest or at least some of your Olympian family." Poseidon said.

"I would like that, don't get me wrong I love it here in Atlantis, but I have a sense that I'm not really meant to live here." I said contemplatively.

"You're right son, you're always welcome here, but your life is on the surface. If you're ready Triton and I will take you to Olympus." Poseidon said.

"Do I look alright to go?" I said. I wore a bluish green t-shirt and light blue jeans and the black sandals my dad gave me. I was wearing the bracelet that Tyson told me he gave me for my birthday and a necklace of a sailboat that I had been wearing since the accident, I never asked anyone about it, but it seemed important.

"You look fine son, hold on." Poseidon said as he grabbed a hold of my shoulder and Triton's. We disappeared in a blue-green mist.

_Mount Olympus_

It seemed like only a few seconds later we reappeared in a large white marble room with several large thrones lined up against the far wall. These thrones looked like giants sat in them. I did notice one person sitting on one of them and he had to be twelve feet in height. He looked a little younger than my father and had a dark beard and electric blue eyes. He was wearing a pin striped business suit. He smiled when he saw us, then he shrank to our size as he walked toward us. He shook my dad's hand and then looked towards Triton and I.

"Percy this is Zeus, king of the gods and your uncle." Poseidon said. I bowed my head towards my uncle and then I tried to read his expression. I could tell that he knew who I was, but I had a sense that he was worried about something.

"It is good to see you again Percy, I know that you don't remember me because of your accident." Zeus said sincerely.

"I'm sorry that I can't remember you sir, but it is an honor to meet you." I said.

"Well have a seat with your brother here in the guest gallery. The Olympian Council meeting will start in a few moments." Zeus said as he walked back to his throne and grew back to his large size. I watched as my father walked to another throne and grew to a similar size. Triton and I waited in the guest gallery for the other gods to appear. I was pretty nervous, but I had a sense that I had been here before. I guess that made sense.

**Annabeth's POV**

I was walking from my office to the throne room. I received an Iris Message from Triton this morning he told me that he, Poseidon and Percy would be coming to this morning's council meeting. He said that I should come as well, but that I should probably stay out of sight for now. As I approached the throne room I placed my invisibility cap on. I walked into the building and headed for the Olympian throne room. I walked into the throne room and I saw Zeus and Poseidon sitting on their thrones and then I glanced over at the visitor gallery and saw Triton and Percy. Percy's hair was even longer than the last time I saw him it was well passed his shoulder now. Even though all I could see was his back I could tell that his skin was paler than before. I guess you can't keep a tan if you stay underwater for eight months. Other than these changes he looked like the same Percy. I quietly made my way over to the visitor gallery and sat down about three rows behind Percy and Triton. I could still hear them if they spoke and I could hear the gods as well.

Hera, Ares and Aphrodite walked in. I saw Aphrodite smile at Percy, but I didn't see any reaction from Percy at all. I could tell that this greatly disappointed Aphrodite because she looked sad. Percy didn't remember Aphrodite either. Then I saw Percy lean over to say something to Triton.

"Why did that goddess smile at me?" Percy asked Triton.

"That's Aphrodite, she knows you." Triton said.

"She doesn't seem familiar to me." Percy said. Aphrodite wouldn't like that if she heard.

Hermes, Apollo, Hephaestus, Theseus and Athena walked in next and took their seats. Theseus and Athena when they saw Triton and Percy smiled and nodded their heads. I saw Percy lean over to Triton and say, "They look familiar especially the god that smiled at me."

Triton looked at Percy and I could see a small smile erupt on his face. "That's good because that is Theseus our brother." Triton said. Percy looked at Theseus again and then I could tell that he looked at Athena, she was holding Theseus's hand.

"Is that our sister-in-law?" Percy asked Triton.

"That's right her name is Athena, goddess of wisdom and battle strategy." Triton said.

"Percy nodded his head and said, "Wow, she has pretty eyes." I almost yelled out when Percy said that does he remember something, I thought? I could tell that Triton was happy about that as well.

"Well, I don't believe the remaining council members will be arriving for this meeting and we now have a quorum. I now call this council meeting into order." Zeus said.

"The only point of business on the agenda is from my daughter Athena. My dear you have the floor." Zeus said. Athena stood up from her throne and walked to the center of the room. She turned and looked back toward the other gods.

"We all know about the terrible accident that young Percy Jackson endured a few months ago. I have been working on a plan with Hephaestus, Apollo, Theseus, Poseidon and Zeus to try to restore Percy's memories. We have developed a plan that we believe will work, but it is extremely dangerous I'm afraid." Athena said. My heart sank when she said that the plan was extremely dangerous. I could hear the other gods whispering to each other.

"Go ahead Athena, continue." Zeus said.

"This plan builds on the 5th training lesson that we had devised for Percy. The fifth lesson was for Percy to take on a journey to the Marianas Trench in the Pacific Ocean, a very long trip indeed from the Atlantic. The trench is the home of the greatest sea monster ever known, the Kraken. No one has ever been able to slay it, except in Hollywood movies that is." Athena said. I heard laughs from the other Olympians especially Ares.

"Now don't get me wrong, this mission was not to fight the Kraken, but was to confront fear and anger. It was the ultimate test to make sure the other lessons had worked. We know now that the other lessons have worked, but Percy has lost his memories and we have discovered a way to restore them. There is a cave very near the lair of the Kraken that houses an underwater spring. The waters of this spring unlike the River Lethe restore or unblock memories. Poseidon and Triton will complete Percy's training and then if he agrees he will go to the Marianas Trench and to the cave." Athena said.

"Alright is there any discussion of this lesson or adventure as I would call it." Zeus said.

"He will have to confront the Kraken, there is no way that beast will allow someone to get passed it's lair alive." Ares said. My heart sunk, Ares is right he won't be able to sneak passed that monster.

"He will have to be trained to sneak passed the creature and he will have to do it twice." Hermes said. Can that be done, there must be something that Poseidon or Triton knows that I don't?

"Triton and I will train Percy in what he needs to know and he will have enough weapons to allow him to pass the Kraken's lair." Poseidon said. I guess he does know something.

"This is Percy's life and it is his decision. He does not have to do this if he doesn't want to." Theseus said.

"Theseus is right it is Percy's decision. Percy please approach the council." Zeus said. I looked at Percy, he stood up and I could tell that he was taller than when he left camp. He was taller than Theseus now, how could he be taller than his twin? That was an interesting question. I could tell by the looks on Athena and Theseus's faces that they wondered the same thing. Percy walked up to the council and stood before them.

"Percy I know you don't remember us, but we all know you and we will accept your decision. You can deny this mission and no one will think ill of you." Zeus said.

"Lord Zeus, members of the council. I want to thank all of you for trying to help me. I know that my choices are to live with my amnesia and hope it corrects itself on its own or conduct this mission and pray that the waters in that cave work. Over these past few months I have struggled to figure out who I am and what my purpose is in this life. I know that I'm missing important parts of my life. I can feel it, but I don't know what they are or whom they are. I don't care about the danger, I want my life back and that's it. Therefore, I accept this mission." Percy said, I never heard Percy sound so lost, but so analytical at the same time. He has changed some and it's not just the memory loss, I thought.

"Percy, we wish you luck on your mission." Zeus said reassuringly. Percy walked back to his seat next to Triton it was the first time that I had seen his eyes. They were the beautiful green that I loved, but they were also piercing now, like he was analyzing the world around him. In many ways it reminded me of my mom's gaze, but instead of intellectually analyzing, Percy's were like he was looking into your soul. Like his gaze could read what you thought and felt. It was a striking difference, but one that took my breath away. He stared toward my direction and for an instant I thought he could see me, but he just continued walking and sat down next to Triton. Then Percy leaned over to Triton and said, "Do you feel like we are being watched?" Triton just looked at him with a surprise look. "Yeah, by the gods sitting up there Perce." Triton said.

"No not them like someone is looking at us someone you can't see." Percy said. He could sense my presence, but how?

"This place is probably under surveillance." Triton said. Percy nodded as if that was it.

"Alright, with that settled this meeting is adjourned." Zeus said and most of the gods left the throne room, except Poseidon, Theseus and Athena. The three of them stepped down from their thrones and shrank to human size. They walked over to where Percy and Triton were sitting. Athena and Theseus hugged Triton and then they approached Percy. I could tell it was awkward for them. They wanted to hug him, but Percy just put out his hand to greet them.

"A pleasure to meet you Lord Theseus and Lady Athena." Percy said. Theseus shook his hand and then Athena did the same.

"It's good to see you again little brother." Theseus said, I could tell it was killing him that Percy didn't recognize him.

"Don't be mad about the mission it was the only thing we could come up with." Athena said.

"I'm not mad, thank you for trying to help me." Percy said sincerely. My mom smiled at him and I could see the sadness in her eyes when he didn't recognize her.

"Dad, I guess we need to get back to prepare for this mission." Percy said. He looked like he was ready to go. I thought it was awkward for us, but I can only imagine how Percy must feel.

"Sure son, let's go." Poseidon held onto both Triton's and Percy's shoulders and they disappeared in a blue-green mist. Once they were gone I took off my cap. I had tears rolling down my cheeks. I didn't get to say anything to him. My mom saw me and ran over to me and engulfed me in a hug.

"Annabeth, why did you come here?" Athena asked.

"I had to see him, but I didn't know what to say so I stayed invisible." I said sadly.

Theseus walked over to me and hugged me to. "Percy will get through this I know he will." Theseus said.

"I hope so, but this mission is so dangerous I don't know if I have any hope left." I said.

"Percy can do it. We all know how strong he is if anyone can do this it is him. He didn't give up and neither should we." Athena said. My mom was right. How can I give up when Percy hadn't? I will pray for him every night and hope that he returns to me.

_**I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter. Just to let everyone know in the myths Perseus (the son of Zeus) did not fight the Kraken he fought a creature called Cetus the sea serpent. So I guess Athena is right Hollywood made up that whole Kraken fight for the Clash of the Titans, there weren't even any Titans in that movie either. **_


	14. Night Before

Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians

_**AN: Over eleven months since Percy left Camp Half Blood for Atlantis**_

Chapter 14: Night Before

_Atlantis_

**Percy's POV**

I had been training for the past three months with Triton and my father. The training was very hard. I leaned how to use the ocean currents to propel me at a speed so slow and quietly that I could sneak up on a sleeping whale. My combat training intensified so I could learn to use my powers to dodge and avoid multiple targets at once. I learned how to use my powers over the sea and then I learned about my powers over earthquakes and seismic events. My dad even taught me how to control storms even ones as large as hurricanes. My last bit of training was how to use all of my weapons effectively together in combat.

My dad gave me a new weapon, one that I had seen Triton use over and over again, the trident. My dad gave me a six foot long celestial bronze trident. The trident allowed me to shoot concussion force blasts at different intensities. The trident could also hold water within it. I could use the water during combat to heal myself or make myself stronger. I could even use it as a weapon against my enemies. The most important thing about the trident was how it worked with the armor my dad gave me. My armor would dissolved into the trident and when I needed the armor I could will it out of the trident and then it would cover my body. Lastly and this is the part I liked the most about the trident is that it turns into this incredible gauntlet for my right arm, it covers about half-way up my forearm and then extends down to cover my knuckles leaving my fingers free. The gauntlet shows a celestial bronze image of my trident and it extends down the length of the gauntlet. On the back of the gauntlet near my knuckles are celestial bronze spikes that extend out about an inch in length, it looks so cool and it is a deadly weapon in its on right. The last several weeks I have been training how to use this new weapon and I have become very good at fighting with it. I was interrupted from my thoughts about the trident by a knock on the door. I walked to my apartment door and opened it, standing in front of me was my brother Triton.

"Can I come in Perce?" Triton said with smile.

"Sure Tri, come in." I said as I let him walk into my apartment. I closed the door and motioned for him to sit down.

"What's going on?" I said curiously.

"Well, dad wanted me to go over the plan for tomorrow." Triton said. Tomorrow was the big day I would be going to the Marianas Trench and to the cave near the Kraken's lair. Hopefully by the end of the day tomorrow I would have all of my memories back.

"So what's the plan then?" I asked.

"Dad is going to drop you off in the Pacific just above the trench and you will go from there. The original plan was for you to travel there, but we thought it better to take you there ourselves. We will leave and then when you finish your mission you will contact us with a blast of your trident. Dad can sense its power so we will be able to tell when your mission is complete. Sound alright to you?" Triton asked.

"I guess, as long as I don't get killed." I said sarcastically.

"Don't even try to be funny little brother, this is serious business." Triton said.

"I know its dangerous, but you all have trained me well. I'm just excited, I want my memories back." I said anxiously.

"I know you do, I have to go. You better get to sleep, you have a big day tomorrow." Triton said as he left my apartment.

I walked to my bed and changed into my boxers and no shirt, then I laid down on my bed and fell fast asleep. I slept well until the dream began.

_I saw a young women who looked to be around my age and she was surrounded by buildings, they looked like cabins. She was being chased by something. I could see other people, many were younger than the women and they were running around. Some had weapons and it looked like they were getting ready to fight. The place looked familiar, but I couldn't remember it. Then I saw the women again I could tell she was blonde, but I couldn't see her face. She looked pretty tall say around almost six feet in height. She was definitely athletic and she had some kind of a knife in her hands. She was still being chased by something or someone. She ran until she was trapped in a corner between two buildings, then she turned to face her pursuer. She was beautiful, the light hit her eyes and they were a startling gray color, like the ocean during a storm. She looked mad and a little scared as well, but mostly she looked determined not to go down without a fight. A blast of energy rang out and light filled the area. I couldn't see anything and when the light dissolved I saw the blonde woman being carried by someone or something. The kidnapper turned and I froze. The kidnapper had the head of shark and the body of a man. _

I jumped out of bed, this was the first nightmare I had like this since the accident. That creature it had to be a sharkman, my dad told me about them, they use to work for Oceanus the titan. That girl looked so familiar just like that place. I still can't remember, maybe I'm starting to remember. This might be an old memory of my past. I looked at the time and realized I would be leaving for the Pacific in an hour. I had to get ready. I got dressed and organized my weapons and gear. This was going to be a long day. I exited my apartment, but all I could think about was my dream. Was it a memory or something else?

_**AN: Thanks to **__**CarolinEirasSa**_ _**for the comment below, it appears I owe Hollywood an apology they got their story from a book.**_

"_**Hollywood didn't made up the Kraken fight. The said movie was based on a book with the same name. **__**In the book, Perseus fought the Kraken. But the creature's life story that is described in the book, is more alike Oceanus' one.**____**In the book, the Kraken was the last Titan, and the one who used to rule the oceans. It was chained by Poseidon in the deepest part of his kingdom, and he would only release it from times to times when Zeus told him so (usually it was released. to painfully destroy some city like, for example, Argos)." by CarolinEirasSa**_

_**I hope everyone enjoyed this short chapter its filler I know, but will be helpful in the next couple chapters.**_


	15. I Meet the Kraken

Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians

_**AN: Over 11 months since Percy left Camp Half Blood for Atlantis**_

Chapter 15: I Meet the Kraken

**Percy's POV**

The water as usual was crystal clear outside the towering celestial bronze gates of Atlantis. I had all of my gear on and I was ready for my mission. As ready as I'll ever be I thought. I felt two people approach it was my father and Triton. They both smiled at me when they saw me waiting for them.

"Percy you're early." Poseidon said. I thought about the dream again, but then cleared it from my mind so my dad wouldn't notice anything. "Well it's good to see that you're taking this mission seriously." I guess Triton told him about my comment last night. I'll have to remind myself to kick Triton's ass the next time we train.

"Dad, I just want to get this over with." I said anxiously. I gave Triton a knowing glare and he just smiled back at me with a sarcastic grin. "How are we getting to the trench?"

As I looked at my dad, I saw his face light up. "By Pegasus of course." He said happily. I remember dad talking about these creatures, but I never saw one or at least I can't remember ever seeing one. "We're going to swim to the surface and wait for three Pegasi to arrive."

"Why don't you just transport us there, wouldn't that be easier?" I asked.

My dad just looked at me and gave me one of his patented grins. "Well where's the fun in that?" He mock asked. Sometimes I have to remember that he's the god of the sea, sometimes he acts just like a big kid. I looked at Triton and he had a similar mischievous grin. I just smiled back at both of them shaking my head.

"Let's go then, I would like to get there this week." I said sarcastically. My dad just looked at me and shrugged. Then he started to swim to the surface. Triton and I started to swim after him. My dad is one fast swimmer Triton and I barely kept up with him. We reached the surface and emerged into a calm sea. The sky was a beautiful blue and there were no clouds visible in any direction. Suddenly three dark specs were visible in the distance. As they approached I saw three animals that looked like horses. You see I read about and saw a picture of a horse on the computer monitor in my apartment. These horses were unusual as they had wings. The wings were huge they made the wings of an Albatross look like a hummingbird wing, another animal that I saw on the computer.

_Hello boss _I heard that in my head then I realized that a Pegasus could talk to me just like a fish or sea mammal could. I realized that the one who was talking was the big black Pegasus. He nodded at me and I almost thought he smiled at me, that's if a Pegasus can smile.

"Do I know you?" I asked. I could see the black Pegasus stare at my dad and I saw my dad give him a sad look.

_You weren't kidding boss when you said he couldn't remember. _I heard the Pegasus say in my mind.Then the Pegasus looked at me and I could see the concern in its eyes. _Nice to see you again little boss._

"And you are?" I asked.

_I'm Blackjack, that's Porkpie and that's Guido. We're here to fly you to the Pacific._ The Pegasus said. I nodded in recognition. _You can ride with me._

I nodded and climbed on the back of Blackjack. Triton rode Porkpie and my dad rode Guido. We took off flying straight to the west at an incredible speed. At the speed we were flying we would be there in a few hours. The flight was incredible I could see the sea and then the land below us fly by at an incredible rate. I could see cities and buildings below us, but we traveled so fast it was like a blur of images. We reached the west coast in three hours and then proceeded to travel over the Pacific Ocean heading for the Marianas Trench. After about another two hours I saw my dad point down into the water and the Pegasi descended. They hovered over the ocean only a few feet from the water's surface. The Pacific Ocean was anything but peaceful. The sea was rough today and it took everything the Pegasi had to keep from being pulled into the sea by the large whitecaps.

"Percy are you ready?" Poseidon said. He looked worried and when I looked at Triton I could tell that he was as well.

"I'm ready don't worry I've been through worse, haven't I?" I asked, because frankly I couldn't remember.

My dad just smiled at me and said, "Hey, we're suppose to make you feel good not the other way around." He's right I guess, but I always worry about others, especially my family before myself. I guess it's my fatal flaw so to speak. No time to dwell on that.

I jumped off of Blackjack before dad could say anything else. I heard Triton yell, "Good luck Perce." I waved to both of them and then dove under the surface. For whatever reason I knew exactly where I was and where I needed to go. I touched the gem on my gauntlet and the armor covered my body. I hit the second gem and a celestial bronze helmet covered my head. The helmet was great because I could see through it as if it wasn't there. I guess I owed that to some more magic from Hephaestus.

I swam straight down from the surface, my armor was so light and it fit my body like a glove. I dove deeper and deeper into the ocean. I used my training to adjust my eyesight to pick up any light within the water. I also used my sixth sense to maneuver in the darkness. After two hours of swimming I reached the top edge of the Marianas Trench. I stopped at the edge of the trench and looked over the side. The trench was completely dark, but I could sense life down there, in particular one very large life form. I knew that had to be the Kraken.

I cleared my mind of any anxiety or worry and dove down over the edge of the trench into the deep below. I kept swimming deeper and deeper into the depths of the trench. After about another two hours of diving I saw or more appropriately felt the surface of the sea floor. The floor was made of a fine powder not sand, but silt. The silt was extremely sticky and I could feel it stick to my feet and my hands. My inner directional sense told me that the Kraken layer was to the north and then beyond that the cave I was looking for.

I swam to the north careful not to stir up a lot of silt. I also didn't want to disturb the water currents, I knew thanks to my dad that the Kraken could sense changes in these currents and used that as a way to identify prey. I felt a large opening in the wall of the trench up ahead, but I knew that wasn't the cave. That had to be the lair of the Kraken. I slowly and carefully swam passed the Kraken's lair. Finally, I reached the opposite side of the lair. I knew that the cave I was looking for was only a few hundred yards away from the lair. I was ready to proceed further when something large hit me at full force knocking me into the wall of the trench. I turned and floating in front of me and completely illuminated was the Kraken. It sure didn't look like the monster from the movie. It appeared to me to be across between several creatures all cephalopods, in other words an octopus or squid. Actually, it had tentacles like an octopus but its head was smaller like a squid. It also had a large shell, which encased the head like a nautilus, but instead of round the shell was long, very long. The shell of the creature had to be sixty feet long and it had a large spike on the end. The tentacles and there were about twelve of them were around a hundred feet long. The strangest thing about the creature was that it bioluminesced, meaning it created its own light. It could change colors like a cuttlefish. However, I was worried because it was flashing red, which on a cuttlefish usually means alarm or anger, so I was most likely in serious trouble.

I started to slowly move back away from the Kraken, but I had a sense that it knew what I was doing. This wasn't your run of the mill dumb monster. I could sense that this creature was very smart. I could see it looking at me with those eyes that were the size of a hubcap. The thing about this creature's eyes was that they changed color. Right now they glowed red and let me tell you that was a pretty terrible sight. I tried to move backwards a little faster and then out of nowhere a tentacle struck out and I just barely dodged it. Before I could think another tentacle shot out towards me and again I barely dodged it. Those lessons about dodging fast moving objects paid off because I was keeping up with its movements. I knew I would have one chance at this. I waited for a tentacle strike and as soon as I dodged it I shot straight up as fast as I could toward the top of the trench. I could feel the Kraken follow me. It was incredibly fast I couldn't keep this speed up for long. Suddenly I felt and then heard several large noises and then I realized they were underwater explosions. I had no idea what was going on and then I saw them. Heading straight toward me from the top of the trench were hundreds of small rocks about the size of my head and then behind theme were twenty or thirty much larger rocks, boulders actually. The first several rocks hit me and bounced off my armor. I turned around and saw the Kraken approach me, but two very large boulders hit it head on. I was about to turn back around when I was hit by something big and then everything went dark.

_**Uh, oh a cliffy, well I know you could see that coming. I wonder who or what set off those explosives?**_


	16. Between a Rock and a Hard Place

Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians

_**AN: Over 11 months since Percy left Camp Half Blood for Atlantis**_

Chapter 16: Between a Rock and a Hard Place

**Percy's POV**

_Everything was black then I saw two figures moving in the shadows. I couldn't make out who or what they were._

"_Did you take care of that blasted son of the sea god?" The first figure said disgustedly. _

"_Yes, sir the explosives were set, there is no way he could have survived." The second figure said I could hear the sound of enjoyment and pride in his voice._

"_Good you have done well, prepare the army. We will leave within the hour. We should arrive at the target within two hours of departure. Go now." The first figure said commandingly. This guy had to be the one in charge. Who were they? Then the figure stood up fully and strode into the dim light. The face of a sharkman came into view and then I awoke from the dream._

I felt pressure all over my body like a tremendous weight was on me. My right hand and arm were free I could move them, but the rest of my body was pinned under a great weight. I reached over my head and I could feel the rock above me, then I remembered the explosion. I'm trapped under all of these rocks and boulders, I thought. Thank the gods for my armor it must have saved my life. Then realization hit me, my dream, the sharkmen were responsible for this attack. They were trying to get me out of the way for their sneak attack. Then I remembered my dream from the night before. That wasn't a dream about the past that was the future. The sharkmen were getting ready to attack that camp. My only problem was that I didn't know where that camp was or how to get there. I started to feel anxiety and fear, but then I focused and the emotions calmed, I realized that I need to resolve my first problem which was getting out from under all of this rock. The trident, that's it I can use it to blast the rock off me. My right hand was free, but how was I going to extend the trident if I couldn't touch the gauntlet to release it. The water, I focused on the water around me and created a hand out of it. I moved the hand and then pressed the trident symbol on my gauntlet. The trident extended pushing some rock out of the way giving me a little more room to maneuver. I aimed the trident directly above me and used my mind to set the power of the blast to full then I willed the power to be unleashed. A tremendous blast exploded around me and when the water and silt calmed I realized that I was no longer pressed down by the weight of the rock, I was free.

_Help me! _I heard a voice say. Where was that coming from?

As if in answer to my question the voice said, _Over here._ I looked around and then I saw another pile of rock about fifty yards away from me. As I approached I could see a tentacle extending from the rock pile, the Kraken. The Kraken was buried under several large boulders and smaller rocks. I made my way carefully over to the pile of rock to make sure this wasn't some kind of a trick, but for some reason my senses told me that it wasn't. As I looked over the rock pile I finally saw one of the eyes of the beast staring at me. They were no longer red, but were a pale blue. I could feel the sadness and fear from the creature.

_Help me please._ The Kraken yelled in my head.

"If you could speak to me why didn't you do it earlier?" I asked.

_Most creatures cannot hear my thoughts so I didn't try, only when I was trapped did I try to. You are the first to ever hear me. Who are you? _ The Kraken said.

"My name is Percy Jackson, son of Poseidon." I said.

_Ah, the sea god please set me free. I promise not to attack you._ The Kraken said.

"How do I know you will keep your promise?" I asked skeptically.

_You can't know that you will have to trust me._ The Kraken said. I focused on this creature for the first time and then I realized it wasn't lying, it was telling the truth. I'm not sure how I knew that, but I did.

"I'll set you free." I said. I blasted each of the three large boulders with my trident and then the rock pile erupted, when the silt and water calmed I saw the Kraken floating about ten yards in front of me. The creature was emitting all kinds of colors, greens, oranges, yellows and blues. The colors were beautiful like an underwater rainbow.

_Thank you son of the sea god I am in your debt._ The Kraken said.

"I need to find the cave that is north of your lair." I said anxiously. I could see the color display stop and the creature was now a mix of orange and yellow colors that were slowly but rhythmically pulsating.

_I will guide you there._ The Kraken said. The creature swam off to the north and I followed. After about ten minutes of swimming the Kraken stopped in front of a large cave entrance. _This is the Cave of Remembrance. Why are you here young one?_

"I have lost most of my memories in an accident I was told that this cave could help restore them." I said hopefully.

_Yes it can, but you must clear your mind so the magic can work. _The Kraken said.

"I understand." I said. I cleared my mind of all emotion and I realized how easy that was. I swam slowly into the cave like I was on autopilot. I could sense everything in the cave, the walls and the ground. As I swam through the cave I was struck by how peaceful it was in here, then I felt a small current of water flowing toward me. I followed the current until I came to the end of the cave. I used my hands to feel around the wall of the cave and then I felt the source of the current. It was a spring and the water was forcefully erupting out of the rock wall like a small geyser. I positioned myself in front of the current, images and memories started to flash in front of my eyes at a rapid pace. The speed of the images and their intensity increased exponentially until I collapsed to my knees exhausted. I could feel the memories and the knowledge swirling around in my brain, then my vision blurred and everything went black.

_**Well, Percy sure has a problem with blacking out. Let's hope he can wake up in time and remember enough to stop his enemies.**_


	17. The Return of Percy Jackson

Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians

_**AN: Over 11 months since Percy left Camp Half Blood for Atlantis**_

Chapter 17: The Return of Percy Jackson

**Percy's POV**

_It was dark and I could tell that I was outside or at least I was looking outside. I was standing on a beach with a large dry dock and a pier in front of me. I saw two beautiful sailing ships docked to the pier and then I saw the name on the back of the first ship, Sally. Camp Half Blood, this was the beach near camp. I turned around and I could see the lights of the big house on the hill, only a few of them remained on and then the last of the lights turned off. As if on queue several dark objects began to walk out of the ocean and onto the beach. As they approached me I could see their faces, they were sharkmen. There had to be at least a hundred of them. They carried spears, harpoons and harpoon guns. I tried to run back to camp, but I was frozen to the sand, I couldn't move. I heard shouting and screaming, I heard fighting in camp, the big house was in flames and I couldn't do anything. A sharkman came down the hill carrying someone, a woman, who was she? Then the moonlight shown on her face, it was …_

"Annabeth" I yelled as I woke up in the cave. I was on the floor of the cave my head was pounding, but I could remember everything. The only thing that mattered right now was Annabeth, my friends and camp. I swam out of the cave directly into the Kraken.

_What is the hurry young prince?_ The Kraken asked curiously.

"I can remember everything, but I have to hurry Camp Half Blood is about to be over run by sharkmen." I said excitedly. The colors of the Kraken immediately became red and the pattern was moving at an incredibly fast and erratic pace.

_Sharkmen, minions of Oceanus. Those bastards, I will help you son of Poseidon. _The Kraken said. I could feel the anger, hatred and animosity of the creature toward Oceanus.

"Oceanus is dead, my brother and I killed him. Why do you hate him so?" I asked curiously.

_He's dead, I did not know this. Once again I'm in your debt young prince. I hate Oceanus because he made me what I am. I wasn't always the Kraken, once I ruled the seas with my wife Thalassa. I am Pontus, ancient god of the sea and brother to Oranos._ The Kraken, I mean Pontus said.

"I know your wife, she is alive." I said. I could feel the sudden surge of joy and happiness within Pontus. The body of the Kraken erupted with all sorts of colors, it was like a giant bag of Skittles exploded all over his body and suddenly pulsated with light.

_Thalassa alive! I must see her. _Pontus said.

"I will take you to her, but first I need to go to camp, the sharkmen are about to attack. Can you help me get there quickly?" I asked. I saw the eyes of the Kraken sparkle and the body color of the beast turned to a pulsating red color.

_I will do more than that young prince I will help you destroy them._ Pontus said. _Get on the back of my shell and hold on._ I climbed on the back of the giant shell and grabbed a hold of two large horns extending from the shell. As soon as I gripped the shell we were off. I thought the speed of the Pegasi was incredible, but that was nothing compared to the Kraken. We traveled at an unimaginable speed I used my underwater sense of direction to follow our progress. In the matter of twenty minutes we had traveled from the Marianas Trench to the Bering Strait. We then passed under the arctic ice caps and continued to travel at great speed. Another twenty minutes later we passed the coast of Greenland. We traveled south toward Long Island and camp. We reached the coast of Long Island in twenty more minutes. The trip had only taken a little over an hour, incredible!

_We are here. _Pontus said. I could feel how anxious Pontus was to destroy the sharkmen. What I couldn't believe was how calm I was? Camp was in danger, but my emotions were completely under control.

"Pontus, wait off the coast. Any sharkmen that make it passed me destroy them." I said.

"Happily!" Pontus said. I jumped off the shell and swam to shore at top speed. I exploded out of the ocean and landed on the shore. I was still dressed in my full body armor and I held the trident in my hands. I touched the gem on my bracelet and the adamantine shield opened from my left wrist.

A harpoon flew through the air, but I easily blocked it with my shield. Ten sharkmen charged me and they exploded into the hill behind them when I blasted them with my trident. Several spears flew through the air towards me, but I extended the trident in front me and began to spin it in the air with my right hand. The spears broke in half and bounced off of my trident. I fired the trident again and ten more sharkmen were blasted into the hillside. I had already defeated twenty sharkmen in a matter of a few seconds.

"Stop or she dies." A sharkman yelled in front of me. I recognized that voice it was the one from my dreams, the leader of the sharkmen army. I looked toward the hill and I saw a lone sharkman walking down the hill holding a dagger to the throat of a young women, when the moonlight hit her face I realized it was Annabeth. The emotions finally hit me when I saw her, but I didn't charge him I remained calm. I guess I am different now I am in control of my emotions.

"Let her go." I said calmly, but with an edge to my voice. The sharkman just looked at me and smiled. I guess that's what you call it when a shark shows you gritted teeth.

"I don't think so. I do not know how you survived the explosives, but I will not let you stop us. You will let my men pass and then you will let me go with the girl, if not she dies." The lead sharkman said. I knew that wasn't going to happen, but I can use this to my advantage.

"Alright, your men can leave." I said matter-of-factly. The lead sharkman looked at me stunned I guess he never suspected I would say that. I saw his men walk passed me warily until they reached the sea. I noticed that none of them had hostages or any kind of spoils then I realized this whole attack was centered on capturing Annabeth, but I wonder why?

"Why did you attack camp?" I asked curiously. I could see Annabeth's left hand slowly move to her side pocket. Her knife must be there.

"Isn't it obvious we want revenge for the death of Oceanus. You were suppose to die in that explosion, then we would use the girl to get Theseus to attack us, after that we would destroy him." The sharkman said confidently.

"Well, I'm not dead as you can see, so your plan has failed." I said. Then I saw Chiron, Thalia and Nico on the hill above us looking down worriedly. Their eyes grew wide when they saw me, I don't know if they recognized me in my armor.

"How do I know it really is you son of Poseidon?" The lead sharkman said. I touched the gem on my gauntlet and the celestial bronze helmet melted away and withdrew into my armor. The sharkman was stunned and then I saw the happiness in Annabeth's eyes. I looked at my friends assembled on the hill above me and I could see the relief on their faces.

"Now you know, you have lost let her go." I said sternly.

The sharkman looked at me and I could see the disgust on his face. He was about to stab Annabeth and then I projected my thoughts, "Now!" The ocean erupted behind me and sharkmen were thrown out of the sea into the air. They landed harshly on the beach, most were dead, but others were gravely wounded. More and more sharkmen were thrown into the air until the beach was covered with the dead or dying. The lead sharkman just stared at me in disbelief, then something erupted out of the sea behind me and everyone froze in terror except for Annabeth and me. The Kraken stretched out of the sea at its full size, the lead sharkman was in shock. At that moment Annabeth struck, she head butted the lead sharkman in the side of the head and then drove her knife deep into his side. Annabeth fell to the ground as the surprised sharkman let go of her. He was about to reach down to attack when a trident flew threw the air and impaled him in the chest. He fell to the ground dead. I touched the gem on my shield and it magically changed back to my bracelet. I walked over to his dead body and then I turned and looked down to see a happy and surprised Annabeth. I stared at her for a moment and I could see the concern in her eyes. I could tell that she wondered if I remembered her, I couldn't make her wait for long.

"Hello, wise girl." I said. A huge smile stretched across her beautiful face and she jumped up and hugged me tightly. We separated from the hug just enough for me to look into her eyes, she was crying happy tears. I wiped her tears away and said, "Don't cry wise girl. I love you." I leaned forward and kissed her passionately. For the first time today I allowed my emotions to get the best of me and I cried happy tears as well.

_**Hope you enjoyed this chapter, two chapters in a row, I think I'm spoiling you all.**_


	18. King and Queen of the Deep Sea

Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians

_**AN: Over 11 months since Percy left Camp Half Blood for Atlantis**_

Chapter 18: The King and Queen of the Deep Sea

**Percy's POV**

As I held Annabeth I saw my friends and Chiron run down the hill toward us. Annabeth and I separated briefly I walked over to my trident which was still imbedded into the chest of the lead sharkman. I pulled it out and touched the trident to my gauntlet, it dissolved and melted into the gauntlet. I then touched the second gem on the gauntlet and my armor dissolved back into the gauntlet. I was standing on the beach now in a blue t-shirt and khaki shorts with the sandals my dad gave me.

"That is so cool!" Nico said as he ran down the hill. How old is he? Something is going on with him he's not acting like the normal Nico. I thought. I grabbed his hand and shook it.

Thalia ran down the hill and hugged me, which was unusual. Then she punched me in the shoulder, but she was surprised when I didn't act like it hurt. "I guess it's nice to have you back kelp head." Thalia said still confused.

Chiron galloped down and shook my hand. "Percy it's good to have you back, what is that creature doing here?" Chiron asked as he pointed to the Kraken.

"That's my friend, everyone meet the Kraken, but in reality he is Pontus the ancient god of the sea." I said happily. Everyone was frozen with amazement. Suddenly, there was a blue-green light and my father appeared on the beach with Triton standing next to him. They both ran over to me and almost hugged the life out of me. "Not wearing armor guys, your crushing me." I said. They both let go of me and smiled.

"Sorry son we're both happy that you're alright and I can tell that your memories are back, but what happened?" Poseidon said, but before I could answer. "Sorry son, one moment." My dad looked towards camp and suddenly a rainstorm appeared just over camp and it began to rain putting out all of the fires throughout the camp.

"The sharkmen who have been after me all year decided that they were going to blow up the trench to try and kill me and then they would attack camp and kidnap Annabeth. Then they would use her to get Theseus to attack them, so they could try to kill him. Basically, this whole mess was centered on their need for revenge for the death of Oceanus. I couldn't have stopped them without my friend here as I pointed to the Kraken floating in the ocean behind us." I said. I could see the surprise and shock on my dad's face. Triton looked equally affected.

"You mean that you befriended the Kraken?" Poseidon asked still not believing me.

"He's not just the Kraken dad, this is Pontus the ancient god of the sea, your great uncle I believe." I said. I saw the color drain out of my dad's face and he had no idea that this was Pontus trapped in the body of the monster. "Dad, I can speak to him for some reason, when no one else can, let me try something." I put my hand on my dad's shoulder and suddenly my dad and I were able to hear Pontus speak.

"You are Pontus?" Poseidon asked hesitantly.

_Yes, I am. Oceanus trapped me in this body as a punishment for not betraying my brother Oranos. When am I going to see Thalassa?_ Pontus asked.

"Thalassa, your wife the ancient goddess of the sea is she alive as well?" Poseidon said.

"Dad, I met her during my ordeal in the Plain of Despair, she helped me. I would have died if she hadn't given me advice. She is the great white shark that helped Theseus. She was also cursed by Oceanus." I said.

"Theseus told me about her I think I can transport her here." Poseidon said as he disappeared. He reappeared a moment later on the back of the shark. He jumped off as the shark approached the Kraken. I could hear the two creatures talking, but I'll never divulge what they were saying it would make everyone blush if I did.

"Dad, can you break these curses?" I asked hopefully. My dad looked at me thoughtfully and then he stared at the Kraken and the shark.

"I can't, but maybe the three of us can." Poseidon said as he pointed to Triton and I. My dad grabbed my hand and then Tritons. My dad held out the trident and motioned for both of us to touch it with him. A moment later the trident began to glow with blue energy. The energy engulfed all three of us as if it was drawing strength from us, but I didn't feel weakened at all. Suddenly, the trident blasted a wave of energy toward the shark and Kraken. After only a few seconds a bright blue flash exploded and standing before use were two human looking beings in traditional Greek robes. The man looked to be in his fifties with gray hair and a beard, but he had beautiful piercing blue eyes. The women standing next to him looked also like she was in her fifties. She was beautiful with long wavy black hair with just a few strands of gray. Her eyes were a piercing dark gray color like a gray pearl. They both walked out of the sea and approached Poseidon and me.

"Nephew, thank you for freeing us." Pontus said as Thalassa nodded in agreement.

Thalassa walked over to me and engulfed me in a huge hug. You have made me so proud Percy. You have done the impossible, thank you for finding my husband." Thalassa said happily.

"You're most welcome, my lady." I said happily as well.

"If you are up to it I have a proposition for both of you." Poseidon said.

"What is that?" Pontus asked curiously.

"Since Oceanus was killed the deep sea has been neglected by me. I believe both of you have the perfect credentials to be the gods of the deep sea as well as the King and Queen of the deep sea. Do you accept this?" Posiedon asked. Pontus and Thalassa looked stunned to me. I don't believe they ever thought my dad would offer this.

"We would be honored, nephew." Thalassa said, as Pontus looked completely speechless.

"Thank you" Pontus said eventually. My dad just looked at them and smiled. He raised his trident and spoke a prayer in ancient Greek that basically said, "May both of you take care of the deep sea with all its wonderful creatures. As the god of the seas I bestow upon both of you the title of king and queen of the deep sea." The trident glowed and a bright light surrounded them. Crowns made of celestial bronze appeared on their heads. Everyone assembled around us including myself bowed in front of the two gods.

Pontus and Thalassa approached me, by then Annabeth was holding my hand. "Awe, young love I can remember when we were that young." Thalassa said to Pontus.

Pontus looked at her and smiled, "Yes, I can as well. We must go now my love our kingdom awaits." Pontus put his hand on my shoulder and looked into my eyes. "Percy you shall forever be my friend, next time you're in the deep sea, look us up."

I nodded and said, "Yes, sir."

Thalassa gave me a hug and said, "You're special Percy Jackson, no living creature has ever faced the darkness within themselves the way you did and survived. That is why you could hear my beloved when no one else could. The gift of total control of ones emotions is very special you are one of a kind now. I can see that you realize this, but the thing that makes you special my boy is that this ability will not go to your head like it might for another. That is truly the most special thing about you, remember that." Thalassa said as she kissed me on the cheek. The two gods of the deep sea walked into the surf and disappeared.

"Earth to seaweed brain. Are you ok?" Annabeth asked. I had to think about that for the first time in my life was I ok, I felt free, truly free.

"For the first time in this past year, I think I am. I remember that fight with my dark side, Perseus as he called himself. I no longer have the Curse of Achilles and you remember when I said that you were my anchor to the mortal world. Well I know you have been concerned that with the removal of the curse that I no longer need you." I said cautiously. Annabeth looked at me nervously.

"I guess I have thought about that." Annabeth conceded. I looked at her thoughtfully.

"When I fought Perseus the way I defeated him was to think of everyone I loved and to concentrate on that feeling, but I only beat him because the strongest feeling of love was for you, that's what helped me win. When I was in the Cave of Remembrance and was bombarded with all of the memories, the happiest were about you and the dreams that I had about camp and everything else centered around you, wise girl. Don't ever think that I don't love you more than anything in my life. You still ground me to this life without you there would be no reason for me to live. I love you, Annabeth more than you can fathom." I said sincerely. Annabeth stared into my eyes and tears began to flow down her cheeks. I wiped them away and kissed her. We separated just enough to breathe and then Annabeth stared into my eyes.

"I love you more than you can imagine too. Life without you this year has been like Tartarus to me." Annabeth said. I held her in my arms as the sun rose in front of us. It had been a long day, but one of the greatest of my life.

_**More to come this story is not finished yet. Ah, and I have officially spoiled you three chapters in a row.**_


	19. Back to Normal

Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians

Chapter 19: Back to Normal

**Annabeth's POV**

I awoke the next morning in an unfamiliar bed and then I remembered my cabin was a disaster. The sharkmen had completely destroyed it. Thalia was nice enough to allow me and my half-sisters to stay in the Zeus cabin, while Percy allowed Malcolm and my other half-brothers to stay with him in the Poseidon cabin. We only have about a dozen campers in the Athena cabin now and I knew we would get to a point when the cabin would eventually be empty. Since my mom married Theseus there have not been any more "brain children" as Percy likes to call us. Speaking of Percy, he's back and I haven't felt this happy in a year at least. He had changed a lot in his year under the sea. His skin was no longer a dark tan, but was light in color. His hair was longer than I had ever seen it, down below his shoulders, but most of all he seemed so calm. Percy had always been laid back, but his emotions could always get the best of him and he was always a pretty hyper ADHD kid like most demigods. Now he was in complete control of his emotions and I didn't know how special that could be until I overheard Thalassa talking to him. I don't know how this will change him, but I'm curious to say the least. He spoke to me yesterday with such emotion he was no longer the boy who found it hard to express his feelings. He was now so open that it was a little intimidating, but I found that exhilarating at the same time.

"Good morning, brain." Thalia said as she walked over and sat down on the bed next to me. She was still a little bleary eyed from sleep, but that wouldn't last long. Thalia had always been energetic, like a fire cracker just waiting to be set off.

"Good morning, Thals." I said. I guess she could tell that I was lost in thought.

"You're thinking about kelp head, aren't you?" Thalia said with a smirk on her face.

"Is it that obvious?" I asked, already knowing the answer.

"Of course it is I know how much you missed him. He does seem a little different, calmer and when he looks at you it's almost like he's looking into your soul, a little creepy actually." Thalia said. I didn't think it was creepy, actually that change fascinated me. People always said that my gray eyes could always make people uneasy like I was analyzing them, trying to figure them out. Percy's eyes before always made me feel lost. They were always so full of emotion and they were as unpredictable as the sea. I still felt that when I looked at them, but now he also made me feel like he was trying to read me or understand my feelings or thoughts.

"I kind of like it." I said. Thalia just looked at me and smiled.

"Well you're clearly still stuck on kelp face." Thalia said. She's right about that.

"I love him Thals, you know that." I said matter-of-factly.

"I know, Annie. Hey, he's definitely hot don't get me wrong. What is he now six foot six? I punched him in the shoulder yesterday and it was like hitting a brick wall. I guess a year of training underwater can turn anyone into a stud." Thalia said in her own unique way. I just looked at her, I guess she's right, but last night I just concentrated on his face and not on his body. I'll guess I can check him out today. Check him out, what in Hades am I saying? I sound like an Aphrodite girl getting ready to pass a note in class.

"How bad is camp?" I asked trying to change the subject.

"Well, I haven't been out yet, but I imagine the big house is a mess and your cabin is destroyed. Let's get ready and check everything out." Thalia said as she went into her room to get changed. The breakfast bell sounded and I was definitely hungry after all of the activity last night.

After several minutes Thalia and I walked out of her cabin and headed for the mess hall. I saw the remains of the Athena cabin, it was definitely destroyed. Thank goodness we were able to save all of our belongings and of course Daedalus's laptop. The rest of the cabins looked ok. Several harpoons and spears still stuck out of several cabin walls and doors. There were some burn marks on the Hermes, Ares and Apollo cabins. We walked into the mess hall Thalia and I grabbed some food and headed for the Athena table. Since we are allowed to eat breakfast at any table we want Thalia had been eating with me and my siblings. Malcolm was already sitting at the table eating with the rest of my brothers and sisters. I didn't see Percy anywhere.

"Malcolm, have you seen Percy?" I asked. Malcolm looked at me and smiled.

"He got up really early and went to the beach. I think he was going for a morning swim. I assumed he would be here afterward." Malcolm said.

I saw Nico walk in and get his food, as usual he was dressed in all black, but he was wearing a stupid grin on his face. After grabbing his food and making an offering he headed over to my table and sat down next to Thalia giving her a peck on the cheek.

"Hey guys, how's it hangin." Nico said. How's it hangin? This boy has been acting weird I need to talk to Thalia about him. It's just not right for Nico to be acting like a skater punk he's more the goth type.

Percy walked in with his swim trunks on and his shirt off. I thought all the girls in the mess hall would either internally combust or their eyes would explode out of their heads. Percy was wearing green swim trunks that were the same color as his eyes. His skin had a light tan, but he wasn't pale though. His hair was very long down passed his shoulders, but the incredible part was his body. Besides being very tall now, he no longer had the swimmer body, lean and toned. His upper body was very muscular, but not like a body builder body. He had the body of a decathlete. His legs were toned as well and he had rock hard abs. I understood why Thalia thought his shoulder was like a brick wall, his arms were solid muscle, his biceps and triceps were incredible. Ah, crap now I do sound like an Aphrodite girl. Percy must have felt the eyes on him because he put on his orange Camp Half Blood t-shirt and walked to the food line. Percy grabbed a plate of food made his offering and walked to my table. He sat down next to Malcolm directly across from me. He smiled at me with that smile that made my heart melt. All I could do was smile back in return.

"Good morning, everyone." Percy said happily. When did Percy become a morning person?

"Good morning, seaweed brain. How long have you been awake?" I asked interestedly. Everyone else at the table nodded in return.

"About two hours." Percy said as he looked at me intently with his intense green eyes.

"Wow, has anyone seen the real kelp head?" Thalia mock asked. Percy just looked at her and shook his head. The old Percy would have been a little upset and would have probably said something to piss off Thalia.

"Well in Atlantis I was up at dawn every morning to train. Once you do that for almost a year I guess your body becomes accustom to it." Percy said. He's definitely not as emotional as before and I could tell that his answer wasn't what Thalia thought she would get.

"Alright." Thalia said.

"Trying to get me riled up, pinecone face?" Percy asked with a wry smile.

"Only a little." Thalia conceded. His question definitely caught her off guard I actually think she blushed a little, wow.

"Malcolm, how well did you sleep last night?" Percy asked. I could tell that he saw how uncomfortable Thalia was so he changed the subject.

"Pretty good considering our cabin is destroyed." Malcolm said sadly.

"Hey, I'm sure Annabeth will design you all an even better cabin, right?" Percy said.

"That's right I've already started designing it." I said. Actually I did, I was about a quarter of the way finished.

"Does anybody know the time?" Percy asked. I wonder why he needs to know that? I saw Malcolm check his watch he was the only person wearing one at the table.

"It's almost nine thirty in the morning." Malcolm said.

"Good, Triton is bringing my belongings from Atlantis at ten. I have time to finish eating and then I can head to the beach." Percy said.

"Do you need some help?" I asked hopefully.

Percy looked at me and smiled. "I was hoping you'd ask." I blushed a little at that, damn why does he make me feel that way, I thought?

"Perce, do you want to sword fight this afternoon?" Nico said, snapping me away from my emotional rambling. Nico was smiling broadly and when he smiles, well let's just say it's very disconcerting.

"Sure, that sounds like fun. I've got a sword class after lunch I'll be free after that." Percy said. Then he looked at me and I could tell that he was going to talk with Nico about his strange behavior of late.

"Hey kelp head speaking of your belongings did you use that camera I gave you?" Thalia said curiously.

"I took some pictures earlier in the year, but for the last several months I was too busy and besides I couldn't remember who I was or anyone else for that matter." Percy said dryly. Thalia just looked at him and started to laugh.

"So you're brain really was full of seaweed." Thalia said sarcastically.

Percy just looked at her seriously and I saw the smile fade from her face. It was replaced by a very worried look, which is extremely unusual for the daughter of Zeus.

Then Percy smiled fiendishly and said, "It was until I got that great cook book called, "Cooking with Seaweed" from a certain goat boy." Percy looked at Thalia and she started to laugh hysterically even I couldn't help but laugh. "Talk about the worst birthday gift ever." We all started to laugh even Nico and Malcolm. "I think I'll make sure to cook Grover a nice seaweed casserole for his birthday." The whole table was now laughing, I finally stopped when I thought my side would split open.

"That was fun." I said happily. It was so good to have Percy back I forgot how much fun it was to laugh like that.

We finished eating and we all went our separate ways, except for Percy and I. We walked down passed the big house and down the hill toward the beach hand in hand. Waiting for us was Triton. I gave him a hug when I saw him.

"Triton, thanks for looking after Percy." I said. Triton smiled as he touched Percy on the shoulder.

"He was a lot of trouble, but I managed some how." Triton said sarcastically.

"Yeah, he only managed to try to kill me three times a day." Percy said jokingly.

"Perce, here's all your stuff. Do you need me to help you carry it to camp?" Triton asked trying to be serious.

"Thanks Tri, I think I can handle it with a little help from the wise girl." Percy said. Triton smiled and looked at me.

"Well, I'm officially turning this hardened criminal over to your custody. Be careful he's a trouble maker." Triton said jokingly as he hugged me and then hugged Percy in turn.

"Take care Tri, thank you for everything." Percy said as we both watched Triton walk into the surf and disappear.

"Are you going to miss Atlantis?" I asked. I could tell that Percy was thinking that over.

"A little, but I'll mostly miss my dad, Triton and Amphitrite. They were all very good to me, but no I'm very happy to be back." Percy said as he put his arms around my waist and leaned down and kissed me softly. I nearly melted into the sand right then and there. We separated and then started to load up his bags. I carried his duffel bag and Percy carried a suitcase and an instrument case.

"I thought you left your guitar in your cabin?" I asked curiously. Percy smiled and then put down the suitcase and quickly opened the instrument case. He pulled out a beautiful celestial bronze guitar it had carvings of seahorses and dolphins on it.

"Your mom and Theseus gave me this I can play it underwater." Percy said.

"That's incredible, but how does that work?" I asked skeptically.

"Not sure, but it does. I'll show you sometime, its probably magic anyway." Percy said. Percy put the guitar back into the case. We both continued our walk to the Poseidon cabin. We entered and then made our way to Percy's room.

"Just place the bags on the floor." Percy said. I couldn't believe how clean his room was.

"Did you clean your room?" I asked.

Percy smiled and said, "I did for about an hour this morning, it still needs some work, but it's a lot better." I can't believe Percy worried about a neat room, he has changed.

"Well, I'm impressed maybe you have grown up." I said. Percy walked over and put his hands on my hips and lifted me into the air. When he brought me back down we were looking into each others eyes. We just looked at each other for what seemed like forever, but it was only five minutes.

I finally broke away from his gaze and saw the bracelet on his left arm. "Nice bracelet, it looks a little like mine." I said trying to break the awkward silence.

Percy held his arm up and said, "It should Tyson and I spent a lot of time working on yours and then for my birthday Tyson springs this on me. It was a great surprise. How do you like yours?" Percy asked curiously.

"It's beautiful I was so happy to get it even though it showed up late." I said pointedly.

"Sorry about that. Hermes said that Aphrodite was to blame." Percy said. I could see his cheeks redden a little, so I knew I could drag the suspense out a little more.

"Well, I guess I can forgive you." I said. Percy just looked at me and then I saw a light flash in his eyes like he just realized something.

"You will you're too good for me my lady." Percy said with a very bad British accent.

I smiled and punched him in the shoulder. Wow, it was like hitting a brick wall, but Percy grabbed his shoulder clearly faking the pain.

"You faker!" I yelled. Percy held up his hands in mock surrender.

"My treachery has been discovered, I surrender." Percy said sarcastically. I started to tickle his ribs and he fell on his bed laughing hard.

"Ah, I have found your weak spot." I said as I continued to tickle him. He suddenly grabbed my waist and pulled me down on top of him. Percy was lying on his bed and I was lying on top of him. Our faces were only a few inches apart. Suddenly I was kissing him hard, I couldn't control myself. It felt so good to feel his lips on mine. His hands made circles on my back as we kissed. His touch gave me goose bumps. This wasn't a soft or gentle kiss. This kiss was rough and intense. I had missed him so much and now I couldn't control my urge to kiss him. We kissed for about five minutes before we separated to catch our breath. Then we heard a knock on the door and I jumped up off of Percy and sat in his chair. Percy sat up on his bed, but his hair was a complete mess. Malcolm walked in and looked around. He smiled when he saw the two of us looking guilty.

"Hey, Percy you have a sword training class in twenty minutes, I just wanted to remind you since it is your first day back." Malcolm said uncomfortably.

Percy let out a sigh and said, "Thanks Malcolm, I'll be just a minute or two." Malcolm walked out of the room I could tell he was very uncomfortable. Percy looked over at me and smiled. I smiled back in return as I tried not to focus on his lips. I straightened myself up and walked to the door.

"I have an Ancient Greek class in thirty minutes I'll see you around seaweed brain." I said happily. I walked out of the door and I saw Percy looking at me stunned. Ha, I thought, I'm not going to make his life any easier that's for sure.

_Later in the afternoon_

**Percy's POV**

My first sword training class went very well. I was much more patient with the little kids than I ever was before. It really helped me teach them. I was putting the last of the practice swords away when Nico walked up to me.

"Perce are you ready to practice?" Nico asked. He was smiling at me, but I could tell something was up. I'm not sure why Nico has been acting so strange. Annabeth told me about his weird antics this year. I know he loves Thalia and love can change someone, but not this much.

"Nico, how's everything going?" I asked trying to pry some information from him.

"I'm great, I've never been so happy." Nico said excitedly. He was way to happy and excited, he wasn't the Nico that I remembered.

We took out our practice swords and began sparring. Nico thrusted at my side and I easily parried his strike. He tried a spin move on me, but I blocked it with my sword. We continued to spar, Nico had actually become a lot better since we fought last, but unfortunately for him so had I. I was getting tired of sparring, Nico thrust his sword at my mid-section, I jumped to the side and with one swift motion I used my left arm to knock the sword out of his hand and then I did a spin kick and knocked his legs out from under him. Nico landed on is back-side and I placed my sword at his throat. I could see Nico visibly gulp. I put the sword away and offered my hand. Nico grabbed it and I pulled him up to his feet effortlessly, that really seemed to surprise him.

"You've gotten very good Perce. I thought for sure I would give you a run for your drachmas now." Nico said.

"Nico, can I talk to you for a moment?" I asked. I hope he doesn't get upset.

"Sure Perce, what's going on?" Nico asked curiously.

"I already asked you that and you said nothing, but I can tell that you're not acting like yourself. Did something happen?" I asked. Nico looked taken aback by this question.

"No, other than I'm in love with a great girl and she loves me." Nico said.

"I can understand that, but you have been a little overly happy and then I heard that you've been talking like some kinda skater punk." I said. Nico just looked at me and shrugged.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Nico said. I could tell that something was wrong.

"Come on, you don't go from a goth son of Hades to an Apollo kid want to be." I said accusingly.

I could tell Nico was thinking about that for a minute and then I could see him visibly give up. "I love Thalia and I wanted her to be happy. I thought if I was a little less gloom and doom she would be happier too." Nico said.

"What did you do?" I demanded. I saw him visibly get nervous now.

"Well I kind of asked Aphrodite for some help." Nico said. Ah, crap I thought.

"Nico, once she gets her hands on you watch out. She will not only do what you ask, but she will try to make your love life her personal mission. You know how much trouble she has given Annabeth and me. I can't believe you could get involved with her." I said disappointedly.

I can see how sad Nico was now. "I'm sorry I just wanted to be happier for Thalia." Nico said.

"Have you said anything to Thalia about this?" I asked. I saw Nico's face go blank clearly he hadn't said a word to her.

"No, she'd kill me if she found out." Nico said worriedly.

"Well this is not something that will remain a secret, especially when Aphrodite is involved. Thalia will find out, you need to talk to her about this and see if she is really happier with you this way, if not then I think you need to take an antidote to whatever spell the love goddess placed on you." I said. I was worried for Nico, he meant well, but he hadn't thought this through fully, actually it probably would have been something I would have done a few years ago.

"I will talk to her Percy, I promise." Nico said. Thank the gods, I thought.

"I think you should do it now instead of later, while you're focused on what's right and before that spell has a chance to change your mind." I said. Nico looked at me and nodded.

"Your right Perce I'll go right now thanks for the advice." Nico said as he walked to the door.

"Nico, one word of extra advice, make sure you use some tact when you talk to Thals. This kind of conversation needs to be handled carefully or well you know what could happen." I said. Nico made a grimace and then I could see him visibly shiver before he ran out of the training center. I hope he plans his conversation well or there is going to be one Hades of fight.

_**I hope you enjoyed this fluffy chapter. What's going to happen when Nico tells Thalia his little secret?**_


	20. One Hades of a Fight

Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians

Chapter 20: One Hades of a Fight

**Nico's POV**

I guess Percy's right, but everything has been going so well of late. I have been much less gloomy and I think Thalia has been happier with me. I know it was wrong to get Aphrodite involved in my relationships with Thalia. How in the name of Zeus do I tell Thalia that I asked for help from Aphrodite? I have a really bad feeling about this. I wish I could talk to my dad about this kind of thing, but considering his relationship with Persephone, he would be the last person I would want to talk to. I guess Percy is the only person I can talk to about this and I know what he wants me to do. I just need to man up and go tell Thalia what I did and beg forgiveness, hey that might work. Yeah right, I better put on some rubber soled shoes because I can feel the lightning already. I need to find a place to tell her where there is no one around who can accidentally get fried in the crossfire. That's it, it's the perfect place now to get her there. I walked to cabin number one and knocked on the door. Annabeth answered looking at me questioningly.

"Nico, do you need to see Thalia?" Annabeth asked. I could tell that she was curious and I felt that she might already know what's going on, but she couldn't Percy was still at the training center.

"I need to talk to her, but not here. Please ask her to meet me at Zeus's fist." I said.

Annabeth stared at me for a moment trying to figure me out, but then she gave up. "I'll tell her." Annabeth said.

"Thanks" I said. I walked from cabin three and headed to Zeus's Fist. For the first time in a year I felt like my old self, I felt like the world was about to end and that I would have to shuttle all the dead to Hades personally. On that cheery thought I sat down on top of the rock, I waited for Thalia and my impending doom.

**Thalia's POV**

"Thalia!" Annabeth yelled as she closed the door to my cabin. I love Annabeth don't get me wrong she's like my little sister, but older than me now, whatever if I think about that I'll just get a damn headache.

"Yes, brain what's going on?" I ask trying not to sound too annoyed.

"Nico just stopped by and said that he wanted to talk to you in private at Zeus's fist." Annabeth said. I could tell she was curious, but she always has enough sense not to push an issue with me.

"Alright, I guess I better go." I said. What does the dead boy want and why couldn't he just tell me here? I love that guy, but sometimes he can be so irritating. Well that's probably why I love him, but that's beside the point. I made my way to Zeus's fist and saw Nico already sitting there waiting on top of the large pile of rocks. I sat down next to him and leaned my head down on his shoulder. Even a daughter of Zeus can be affectionate sometimes. After an awkward silence Nico moved a little so I raised my head off his shoulder, I guess he's ready to tell me what's going on.

"Thalia, there is something that I've been meaning to tell you for a long time." Nico said nervously. Why is he so nervous? What did he do?

"Out with it, what did you do?" I said pointedly.

"Well, I was wondering if you noticed anything different about me." Nico said cautiously.

"Like what? You still look the same although a little taller." I said. What does he mean, different?

"Have you noticed that I've been happier, less gloom and doom?" Nico asked.

"Yeah, I just thought you were happy that we were together, although sometimes it can be a little annoying. Lately you've been overly considerate and less opinionated." I said. I could see Nico's head drop and he wouldn't look at me.

"I thought it would make you happier if I was less gloomy, less a son of Hades all the time." Nico said, whispering just loud enough for Thalia to hear. Why is he whispering?

"Have you been acting happier and more considerate on purpose? You thought I wanted to change who you were?" I asked. I couldn't believe that he thought I would be so shallow as to want him to change.

"You know I don't have anybody to talk to about this sort of thing and I couldn't talk to you. So I kinda spoke to someone who I thought could help." Nico said. He still wouldn't look at me.

"Nico, who did you talk to?" I asked. I was already starting to get mad.

"Ap...d..te" Nico said. He was mumbling now incoherently.

"Nico look at me, who did you talk to?" I yelled. Nico sprang up and looked at me straight in the eyes. His eyes, were not the intimidating black orbs I was use to, but looked weak and pleading; like he was hoping that I wouldn't destroy him right here and there.

"I took a deep breath and softened my tone just a little. "Please tell me who you spoke to?" I asked calmly. I was anything, but calm on the inside.

"Aphrodite, I spoke to Aphrodite." Nico said. Why in Hades did he talk to her?

"Nico, you idiot why did you talk to her?" I said angrily. Nico jumped a little because of my anger. It is not like him to be afraid like this, what did he do?

"Nico, you never act afraid when I use to yell at you or when we got into a fight. What did Aphrodite say to you? What did you do?" I asked. I tried not to yell because I wanted an answer not a weird and afraid son of Hades.

"She said that I was too moody, too arrogant, and too much like my father for any women to love. She offered to help me." Nico said. I could tell by his posture and his voice that he had given up. He looked completely helpless now.

"What kinda help?" I asked worriedly.

"A spell, she said that it would, in her own words, _Take the edge off my attitude_." Nico said.

"How long have you been under this spell?" I asked.

"Since last summer." Nico said.

"What? You've kept this from me for a year? What were you thinking?" I yelled. I could see Nico visibly withdraw from my yelling. Damn, she did a job on him.

"At first I didn't think it was working, but for the last several months I have felt happier, less moody, more considerate and less focused on me." Nico said. I just looked at him like he was crazy.

"You think I want you to be those things?" I asked incredulously.

"I don't know what girls want, that's why I asked Aphrodite. Every time we talked about these kinda things we got into a fight." Nico said. He was right, but I didn't want him to change completely. I just wanted him to work harder on our relationship.

"I didn't want you to change I just wanted you to be you. I did want you to work harder at our relationship, but you don't need a spell for that." I said. What am I going to do now?

"I'm sorry, please don't hate me." Nico begged. Nico begging, I can't stand this.

"Nico stop, look at yourself. How can I be with someone who is so weak? You're not the guy that I fell in love with you're some fraud. You're not even worthy to be a son of Hades. You have disrespected me, your father and most of all yourself." I yelled. I'm being too harsh, but he needs to understand. I looked in his eyes and I saw a sudden flash of flame. I didn't know what that meant.

"You hate me, you don't deserve my love. You bitch." Nico yelled. Then he smacked me clear across the face. I fell to the ground and he loomed over me. He did it now, I turned and looked at him and his face was pure fury and betrayal. I could feel lightning flash before my eyes as I sent a bolt down upon him. It struck the ground right next to where he was standing sending him flying off of Zeus's Fist. He hit the ground hard. I could tell that he broke his arm when hit, but he stood up and sent a wall of flame directly at me. I jumped off of Zeus's fist and landed directly on a rock. I felt a rib crack as I rolled off. I stood up holding my left side where my rib was broken. Nico walked over to me cradling his broken left arm. We were about to strike again when a golden light appeared in front of me and then a black mist appeared in front of Nico. The golden light materialized in the form of Zeus, my dad. The black mist faded and standing in front of Nico was his father, Hades.

"How dare you strike my daughter?" Zeus yelled at Nico. Nico froze at the sight of an angry King of the gods.

"How dare that fool daughter of yours hurt my son?" Hades yelled. Both gods looked at each other and I could feel the power coming off of them. Lightning flashed overhead and the wind began to pick up violently. The area around us grew dark like the underworld was rising up. Flames shot up out of the ground around Hades. Zeus launched electricity at Hades who raised a large boulder up to protect himself. The boulder disintegrated in front of him. Hades launched a plume of flame directly at Zeus, who created a small vortex of wind that snuffed out the flame. They were about to send another volley of attacks against each other when another golden light appeared between them, it was Theseus and he looked pissed.

"What in the name of Oranos himself is going on here?" He yelled, his voice so loud and sharp that the rocks that made up Zeus's Fist fell apart. Hades and Zeus both looked stunned at the outburst from their nephew.

"You know that Camp Half Blood is my territory, how dare you battle in my realm?" Theseus said. I never thought of that before, but he's right, this would be his realm, his place. He was the god of Heroes and Camp Half Blood was for heroes only. That statement seemed to break my dad and Hades out from their anger toward each other.

"By the ancient laws I could and should destroy both of you where you stand." Theseus said. Another golden light appeared next to Theseus, it was Athena.

"What happened?" Athena asked to no one in particular.

"Your father and uncle decided they were going to have a duel here at Camp Half Blood. In my realm, I am in charge of this place not them." Theseus said. I could see the anger slowly subside from his face. Athena placed her hand on Theseus's arm and stood in front of him. I could almost here her tell him to calm down. The bright red color drained from his face and he stood there still not pleased, but no longer ready to kill two gods. That might sound crazy, but considering how many titans he had helped kill it wasn't too far fetched.

Athena looked at me and then at Nico. Why are both of you injured? Zeus and Hades were about to yell, but stopped when Athena raised her hand.

"I was talking to the children not you two hot heads." Athena said. Zeus and Hades reluctantly remained silent.

"Nico slapped me across the face." I said. Athena looked at Nico angrily.

"Why would you do that?" Athena asked. Nico looked stunned like he didn't even know why he did.

"She basically said she hated me and she didn't want to have anything to do with me. I don't know how, but something snapped in side of me, like a switch that had been waiting for a long time was suddenly turned on. Thalia, I'm sorry I didn't mean to hurt you, I swear." Nico said. He was back to being the meek and afraid boy that I just couldn't stand.

"See what he did. He asked Aphrodite about advice regarding our relationship and she turned him into this coward." I said. Nico visibly winced at that name. I saw Hades eyes burn bright with fire.

"How dare you call my son a coward?" Hades said, but Nico put his hand on his shoulder.

"Father, I deserve it. I let Aphrodite place a spell on me, so I would be a better boyfriend to Thalia. It backfired, now I'm a disgrace to you, my friends and now Thalia hates me. I have to leave." Nico said, he sounded completely destroyed, I forgot all about how angry and hurt I was. I was about to yell at him not to go, but he ran into a shadow and disappeared.

"Is this true, did Aphrodite cast a spell on my son?" Hades yelled angrily.

"I'm afraid she has uncle." Percy said as he walked up to all of us.

"Percy, how long have you been there." Theseus said curiously.

"Long enough to see two of my best friends, my two uncles and my brother make fools of themselves." Percy said. Athena gave a little smirk because I could see everyone wince in pain considering the way they acted. I was about to say something when Percy raised his fist and gave each one of us a look that said you better listen.

"Thalia, I told Nico to talk to you because he didn't have anyone to talk to about this when I was gone. He is partially to blame, but you could have responded a little less angrily and certainly a lot less accusingly. It was hard for him to tell you, especially in his current state. This isn't Nico, I could feel his normal self trapped in his body by that spell. Clearly, when it got the chance to escape it did with terrible results. You know he would never hurt you his anger welled up until the spell finally let him express it. I'm sure Aphrodite is having fun taping this whole little drama here." Percy said as he pointed to my broken ribs that I was holding and the large bruise on the side of my face.

"Percy, how do you know all of this? How can you know what he's feeling?" I asked. Percy just looked at me thoughtfully and then smiled.

"Let's just say that this past year I learned a great deal about myself and in turn I have some new abilities. One of which is the ability to read people's emotions. I know your angry and Thalia that has always clouded your judgment in the past. Don't treat Nico too badly he has a good heart even though he is fascinated with gloom and doom, but that's just who he is. Anger is a dangerous thing believe me I know better than anyone alive." Percy said. He looked downward for a moment as if remembering something. I saw Athena, Theseus and Zeus all shiver as if they knew exactly what he was talking about.

"How is that possible?" I said skeptically. Percy just shrugged his shoulders.

"I have no idea, I just can read peoples emotions and it is more then just reading their expressions. However, I do not believe we should be focused on me for the moment when Nico could be outside the protection of camp with a broken arm. I know you would feel terrible if he got hurt or worse because of this fight. Besides I think your anger would be best served focused on the real culprit here." Percy said.

"Real culprit, whom do you mean?" I asked already knowing the answer.

"Don't play dumb Thals, Aphrodite, she's the one that told him the spell would only take the edge off and it wouldn't change him too drastically. Well we all know now that was a load of crap." Percy said sarcastically. Damn it I hate when he's right.

"OK, Dr. Phil we'll play it your way for now." I said incredulously.

"Now for you two." Percy said as he directed his comments to Zeus and Hades.

"I thought that the two of you and my dad were getting along." Percy said. Zeus and Hades just looked at each other.

"My son was hurt and I wanted to help." Hades said.

"My daughter was hurt and I wanted to help." Zeus said.

Percy just stared at both of them and then frowned. "Your both full of it, you know that?" Percy said. Zeus and Hades both looked at him surprised and angry.

"You insolent child how dare you speak to me that way." Zeus said.

"Yes, I should have destroyed you years ago." Hades said.

"Zeus, you owe me for that Plain of Despair crap, I haven't forgotten that you're the one to blame for that." Percy said as he stared down my father. I never saw anyone do that before, I was rather impressed, but I won't tell Percy that.

"I was only." Zeus said.

Percy cut him off before he could finish. "Trying to help. Is that what you were going to say? That's a load of crap, you were trying to make it hard on me or get me killed. You also used Athena to do your dirty work as well. I know she doesn't appreciate that." Percy yelled. Zeus was caught off guard and he didn't protest anymore.

Percy stared at Hades who was smiling the whole time Percy was yelling at Zeus. "What are you smiling at fire ball?" Percy said. I could see the fire burning in Hades eyes.

"How dare.." Hades said, but Percy cut him off as well.

"I dare a lot of things, you see demigods aren't the only beings I can read gods are actually easier to tell you the truth. I know that you and Zeus both have been watching Thalia and Nico's relationship. You were both just waiting for something like this to happen, so you could ride in for the rescue. You're both so transparent, it's rather sad really." Percy said. I could see that Hades was completely taken aback by this.

"How do .." Hades and Zeus both said before Percy continued.

"It's so obvious from your emotions as well as your actions today." Percy said matter-of-factly.

"Dad, is this true?" I yelled at my father. I could see he was about to say something probably a lie when he saw Percy staring at him. He just nodded. Damn him why does he always have to interfere?

"Hades is this true?" Athena asked pointedly. Hades nodded as well.

"You both should be ashamed." Theseus said. Percy looked at Theseus and I saw Theseus stare at Percy then he lowered his gaze. Wow, that's some stare he has there.

"Theseus, you shouldn't speak about people being ashamed. You of all people understand the power of anger and the unattended consequences it can cause. You let your anger get the best of you today, thank goodness Athena arrived when she did." Percy said, I guess he was referring to the death of Pirithous, that story had already gone around camp once, a very tragic tale.

"I'm sorry for losing my temper." Theseus said. Percy walked over to his brother and hugged him. I saw Athena smile at Percy when they separated.

"OK, now back to the problem at hand. We have a son of the big three out of camp on his own, he's injured, where would he go?" Percy asked. His question was completely logical and for a second I thought he was Annabeth.

"Maybe he went to the underworld, I can check." Hades offered.

Athena shook her head. "You heard him, Nico thinks he failed you, he won't go to the underworld." Athena said.

"He definitely left camp." I said. Everyone nodded in agreement.

"Oh gods, I know where he went." Percy said. He looked sick to his stomach.

"Come on kelp head where?" I yelled.

"Isn't it obvious? He left camp, he won't go to the underworld and he won't try to go to Olympus to confront Aphrodite because he would be too scared in his current state of mind. Where does someone go to forget they're troubles? Someone place he's already familiar with." Percy said.

I saw a light in Athena's eyes go off. "Percy that's one hundred percent correct. Great job." Athena said. I was getting mad now.

"Let's pat Percy on the back later, where did he go?" I yelled.

"He went to the Lotus Casino, isn't it obvious?" Athena asked incredulously.

"It's not or I wouldn't have to ask." I yelled. The Lotus Casino, Annabeth told me about that place and that's right Nico was there with his sister Bianca.

"I would say this is a quest, but in fact this is a rescue mission so no need of a prophecy." Theseus said.

"Actually we have two missions, one's a rescue and the other is, well I hate to say it but the other is fact finding and a theft." Percy said. What does he mean a theft?

"What is this second mission?" I asked now I was really getting annoyed with Percy's mister know it all routine.

"We need to find the spell that Aphrodite used then steal an antidote." Athena said calmly.

"Whose going on these two missions then?" I asked.

"Well since Percy, Annabeth and Grover have been to the Lotus and escaped, they are the best equipped to do it again. The other team needs to be led by someone who has a strong will, a personal stake in the outcome and who has led a group before. Thalia that's you." Theseus said.

"Alright, but who are my other two teammates if we're sticking with three person teams.?" I asked.

"Isn't it obvious, if you're going to steal from Aphrodite, you need thieves." Athena said. My heart sank when I realized whom they were talking about.

"Come on their pains in the butt. How can I trust them?" I asked.

"They did save our butts last summer." Percy added. He would have to bring that up.

"Whom are you talking about?" Zeus and Hades yelled at the same time.

"The Stoll brothers of course." Athena said. I could see Hades and Zeus's eyes grow large. Then my dad gave me a sympathetic look.

"Well, I have to go, good luck dear, you're going to need it." Zeus said as he disappeared in a bolt of lightning. Great, what a supportive father he is?

"Please find my son." Hades said as he disappeared in a ball of fire. Just great Percy, Annabeth and Grover the titanic trio get to go off and find Nico. While I'm stuck babysitting the two most obnoxious, mischievous and asinine sons of Hermes, ah joy.

_**Here are some questions for the next chapter. Did Nico really go to the Lotus Casino? Can Percy, Annabeth and Grover bring him back? Can Thalia and the Stolls find and steal the antidote? Can Thalia keep from killing the two sons of Hermes? **_


	21. Preparations

Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians

Chapter 21: Preparations

**Percy's POV**

I watched as Thalia walked back towards camp. I needed to speak with Theseus and Athena. I guess they could tell that because they both walked over to me.

"You want to talk to us?" Theseus asked. I could tell by his eyes that he was concerned and Athena's body language gave her away as well. Why am I so observant all of a sudden? These changes are hard to get use to.

"I don't know how to say it, but I need to talk about me." I said. I could see they were a little confused. Even though Athena is harder to read than my brother I could tell she was confused. I know it's tough to get use to the idea of reading emotions.

"What do you mean?" Athena asked curiously. I could tell that she was truly concerned.

"I don't know about these abilities, I'm just now realizing how much I've changed. It can be a little…." I said trailing off at the end.

"Scary… Disconcerting… Weird." Theseus said.

"I guess a little of all three, not so much the scary part, I don't scare easy anymore or at all really." I said. I saw Athena raise an eyebrow and Theseus gave me a quizzical look.

"Everyone gets scared. They may be able to control it, but the feeling is there. Tell us how you feel different than say a year ago?" Athena asked logically.

"Last year and even the years before that I was always so full of emotion. It was like a tidal wave that I always had to hold back. It scared me I don't believe anyone knew that. Sometimes I would let some of that tidal wave slip and bad things would happen." I said.

"Like Mount St. Helens?" Theseus asked. By his expression and emotions I could tell he already knew the answer.

"Correct, just like that. Now the wave is like a kiddy pool, I can easily control it with no problem." I said.

"What about the power?" Theseus asked hesitantly. I know he was concerned that my dark side was still there pushing somewhere in the background of my mind.

"The power is still there, but it doesn't have any link to the pool. It's like a reserve that I can call on when I need it." I said. I could see the relief in Theseus's face, even Athena looked relieved.

"Ok, spill it I don't have to read your emotions to tell that you both know something." I said sternly.

"The whole training scenario had one main purpose and that was to get your inner power under control. We didn't know anything about the second reason, the one that Zeus knew about." Theseus said. I could tell he was a little wary of telling me.

"What other reason, you know I hate it when people hold back the truth from me." I said. I saw Athena nod to Theseus as if to say go and tell him, which is probably exactly what it meant.

"Ok, the other reason was to break our mental link. Zeus and some of the others felt that it was too dangerous and that your subconscious was inadvertently siphoning power from me." Theseus said. That's why Perseus was so strong.

"Well, I hate to admit it, but he was right. The link between us fueled my dark side." I said, I could tell that Athena and Theseus already knew this.

"You already knew, how?" I asked.

"We saw the fight between you and Perseus." Athena said. How did they see it?

"How?" I asked.

"Hephaestus." Theseus said. He was monitoring me I bet Zeus had a nice view of everything I did in the Plain of Despair.

"So did both of you sit back and watch with Zeus and the gang?" I asked incredulously.

"We didn't know anything about the monitoring or the Spartan training. We met Annabeth on Olympus and she was looking for Demeter. We walked into the throne room and there they were watching you. We watched as well, after we gave my father a good talking to." Athena said. I could tell that she didn't feel good about watching my ordeal, but Annabeth was there, oh gods, she saw him.

"Annabeth was there, she saw him?" I asked worriedly. I could tell this question was completely unexpected.

"I'm afraid she watched the whole confrontation." Athena said sincerely.

"She must think I'm some kinda monster." I said sadly. Theseus and Athena both placed a hand on my shoulder.

"She doesn't think you're a monster. She understood what happened." Athena said reassuringly.

"That's right she was more worried than any of us about you. Besides Perseus is gone now, right?" Theseus asked almost pleadingly. Was Perseus gone, I couldn't feel him anymore? I tried many times since I got my memories back, but I think my dark side was gone, but shouldn't that worry me?

"I think Perseus is gone, but isn't a lack of a dark side or whatever you want to call it a bad thing?" I asked. I could see Athena and Theseus both working that question over in their minds.

"A good question, I've never met anyone without a dark side, there have been many villains who didn't have a good side, that's more common I suppose." Athena said. That didn't make me feel better, so I'm in uncharted waters.

"I guess Thalassa was right when she said I was unique. She alluded to special gifts as she called them, these abilities stemmed from my lack of a dark side. There have been several things that I have noticed about myself since I defeated Perseus." I said.

"Like what?" Theseus asked. I could see that he and Athena were actually intrigued. I don't blame them I guess.

"Well, for one I can read emotions as I said earlier. Secondly, I have been more focused and very observant, much more than I ever was before. Third, I have sudden insights during battles, not like flashes regarding tactics or strategy, but things like predicting my opponent's next move in a fight. Fourth, in my dreams like the one about the sharkmen and camp, I can rationalize and analyze them as I'm dreaming. When I wake up I can remember them specifically. Lastly, I have a photographic memory, actually more than that I can focus on the image and manipulate it in my mind such as zooming in on a specific aspect." I said. Theseus and Athena both stared at me for a moment and then smiled.

"Percy, Thalassa is correct these are great gifts. Now I can understand how you were able to confront all of us just a few minutes ago. You truly have grown up and more importantly your new gifts will greatly enhance your life." Athena said.

"I agree you have made me very proud little brother." Theseus said. I need to tell him about my mom, it has to be now.

"Theseus I need to tell you something. When I was in the Plain of Despair, fighting against fear and the dark side within me I had a sudden realization. I recognized something about you and me." I said.

"What exactly?" Theseus said curiously. Athena looked like she was about to explode waiting for me to answer.

"Regarding our mothers." I said, not sure how to say this.

"Go on you can tell me." Theseus said.

"I realized the reason we are twins is because Aethra is reincarnated in my mom." I said calmly. Theseus's eyes grew wide and I could see a tear fall from his left eye. Athena put her arm around him and smiled.

"How do you know for sure?" Theseus asked. I could tell that he was holding back excitement and his emotions to make sure that I was certain.

"I asked Nico to check and he found out that Aethra was in the Elysium Fields for several thousand years, but she petitioned for rebirth a few decades ago. Nico discovered that the year of her rebirth matched the year my mom was born." I said. I could see the light brighten behind Theseus's eyes. A broad smile came over his face and he pulled me into a hug. We eventually separated I could see a huge smile on Athena's face as well.

"Percy, this is the best gift you could ever give me. I always wondered how we could be twins, but this is the answer. It's so obvious now I'm not sure how I missed it." Theseus said.

"Well I felt the same way too. I need to go talk to Annabeth and call Grover. I have a good friend to save." I said as I hugged both of them good-bye. I walked toward the Zeus cabin. I reached the door of the cabin, but stopped when I heard talking and crying. I could tell that Thalia was sobbing. Thalia hardly ever cries, but I know under that tough exterior she is a lost little girl who never really had a mom or dad. Wow, I never thought that way about her before. This reading emotions thing is going to take some getting use to. I kind of felt bad about not telling Theseus and Athena about the other gift, my senses have been incredibly enhanced; hearing, sense of smell, eye sight and of course my sixth sense. I guess this one secret is not too big to keep. I knocked on the door of the Zeus cabin. I could hear furniture moving and soft footsteps, the door opened and standing in front of me was Annabeth. She had a sad look on her face, but she tried to smile when she saw me.

"I guess Thalia told you everything?" I asked already knowing the answer, but not really sure. The one thing I didn't tell Athena and Theseus was that the one person whose emotions I couldn't read very well was Annabeths'.

"Yes, get in here we all need to talk." Annabeth said, she didn't sound happy. I'm good at detecting emotions in voices and on faces, thank goodness. Annabeth was projecting anger, pain and sadness. I just couldn't place where those feelings were being directed. I guess I'll find out soon enough.

"Why didn't you tell me about Nico, I thought you were going to ask him and then let me know?" Annabeth yelled at me. The old Percy would have probably gotten mad for being yelled at and would have said something stupid.

"Give me a chance to explain, please." I said calmly. Annabeth was shocked she didn't expect this answer from me. She thought I would fly off the handle like old times I thought.

"Go ahead." She said. I could tell she was a little uncomfortable. I saw Thalia walk out with her eyes all puffy. She sat down next to Annabeth who sat on a bunk near the rear window of the cabin.

"I didn't have time to tell you. I talked to him between sword classes. He went straight to talk to Thalia, so please don't get mad at me. I'm not to blame for people getting mad and letting their emotions get the better of them." I said pointedly. Thalia put her head in her hands.

"How did you know to go to Zeus's Fist?" Thalia said quietly. I could tell that she was worn out. She must have gone to the infirmary because I could see bandages wrapped around her waist under her shirt.

"Well, I was training with the Apollo cabin when I heard a lot of commotion such as lightning, explosions and yelling." I said. They both looked at each other in disbelief.

"I was here in the cabin and I never heard those things, how could you all the way over and inside the training center." Annabeth said. It's definitely hard to keep a secret from the wise girl.

"It's one of my new gifts, but both of you need to swear not to spread this around. I haven't told anyone else yet." I said.

"Yes, we swear." They both said at the same time.

"My senses have all been heightened since my training that includes hearing." I said. They both stared wide eyed at me. Why do people do that when I tell them these things? I'm not some kind of freak among freaks.

"Percy, why haven't you told me these things?" Annabeth asked. I could tell by her expression that she was confused and disappointed.

"How do you tell you're girlfriend that you're some kind of a freak? It's already obvious that you're a little freaked out about how much I've changed." I said. I hadn't let that feeling out. It felt good to do that.

Annabeth just looked at me and then I saw her cheeks redden. "I'm not freaked out about that, it just takes time to adjust to it. You have grown up so much in the last few years. I sometimes forget that you're still my old seaweed brain." Annabeth said anxiously.

"Hey, I always be that, but I have changed, some of it has to do with growing up and others because of what happened this year. You have always told me that I had great potential, but I was too lazy to realize it. You're so right, I think I'm finally achieving my potential and it feels incredible." I said as I smiled at her. She smiled back and jumped into my arms and hugged me.

"I think I'm going to hurl." Thalia said. I looked at her and smiled, she just shook her head clearly annoyed.

Annabeth and I separated. "Did Thalia tell you about the two missions?" I asked Annabeth.

"Yes, we have to go back to the Lotus Casino. Thalia said that you were the one that figured out his destination not my mom." Annabeth said, I could tell she was impressed.

"Lucky guess." I said. I knew better than that. I think Annabeth did too as she smirked at me.

"I have to go steal the antidote from Aphrodite with the Stolls." Thalia said incredulously, when she said Stolls it was like a dirty word to her.

"We need to get prepared." Annabeth said. As usual, she's always ready for a mission.

"We need to call Grover." I said.

"Alright, right after we help Thals we'll go to your cabin and use the fountain. Thalia what can we help you with?" Annabeth said.

"You can kill me now before I leave with those two delinquents." Thalia said sarcastically.

"Come on seriously, what can we do?" Annabeth asked. Thalia just looked at us and then she smiled.

"You can tell the Stolls for me." Thalia said with a grin. She called Nico a coward and she can't even talk to the Stolls.

"Thalia it's your mission, you ask them to join you. You can't be afraid of those two, can you?" Annabeth said with surprise in her voice. Thalia just stared at her and I could see the electricity in her eyes.

"I'm not afraid of them, I just hate going into the Hermes cabin that's all." Thalia said angrily.

"Well why not ask them to meet you someplace." I said. I could see Thalia's anger rise with that statement. She really didn't want to ask them, well now I knew what I had to do.

"Thals, you helped make this mess worse so as part of your punishment you're going to ask the Stolls. You forget Annabeth and I are camp counselors this year so we can make you do this." I said as I put my arm around Annabeth. We both stared at Thalia with evil grins on our faces.

"Some friends you are. Alright, I'll do it." Thalia said as she stood up and walked out the door toward the Hermes cabin. Annabeth and I just stared at her as she left.

"So how is she, I heard the sobs before I knocked on the door?" I asked. Annabeth looked at me and sighed.

"She blames Nico and she blames herself, especially about him leaving camp." Annabeth said.

"Their lucky they didn't kill each other. We all should be glad that Theseus and Athena arrived before Zeus and Hades destroyed the camp." I said.

"How about the ribs?" I asked.

"She'll be fine Will Solace bandaged her up and said that with a little magic from his dad that she should be fully healed in a few days." Annabeth said.

"Good, she's going to need to be fully healed to take on Aphrodite. I think we have the easier job." I said. Annabeth smiled at me and kissed me on the cheek.

"Yeah, we only have to deal with Grover, Thalia gets the Stolls." Annabeth said. I looked at her and smiled.

"I'd take that trade anytime." I said as we walked out of the cabin arm in arm. A mission with my wise girl and good old Grover, now this should be fun. It will be so good to see him again. The Lord of Wild, I haven't spoken to him for over a year now and even though my empathy link with him broke the day my link with Theseus did I still know he's out there doing his best for wild places as he calls them.

Annabeth and I walked to my cabin as we entered we followed the sound of running water to the beautiful fountain near the rear window of my cabin. The fountain was beautiful. It was made of white marble and was covered with a tremendous variety of seashells. In the center of the fountain were two dolphins that sprayed water out of their blow holes. The water made a light mist in the air before it settled into the large oval basin of water below. I knew Annabeth helped design it and I knew she loved it.

"I love the fountain." I said as I held her in my arms. I gave her a kiss and then we separated it was time to call the G-man. I pulled a drachma out of my pocket and threw it into the fountain.

"Goddess hear my prayer, show Grover Underwood, Lord of the Wild." I said. The mist morphed and changed into an image of a magnificent forest and standing in front of a beautiful Giant Sequoia was Grover.

"G-man!" I yelled. Poor Grover almost fell over in fright like the small fainting goats that I saw on the television one time.

"Percy, you scared the Hades out of me." Grover said. He looked into the image and his eyes sparkled when he saw Annabeth.

"Annabeth, so good to see you, what's going on?" Grover asked excitedly.

"Grover, we have a mission." Annabeth said. Grover looked at us warily.

"How dangerous is this mission?" Grover asked.

"Nothing that a Lord of the Wild can't handle." I said confidently. Grover just looked at me and smiled. I knew he loved being a Lord of the Wild.

"Tell me about this mission, Annabeth. Percy will only sugar coat it." Grover said. Now I was offended, of course his statement was true.

"Nico had a fight with Thalia, he's under a spell from Aphrodite and we think he's gone to the Lotus Casino." Annabeth said. I saw Grover's eyes light up at the mention of the casino.

"The Lotus, we're going back there?" He asked. Knowing darn well that's what Annabeth just said.

"That's what she said G-man, are you in?" I asked. Grover looked at both of us and gave us a sheepish grin, which is weird coming from a goat boy.

"I'll do it. I should be able to meet you in Las Vegas, as you can tell I'm in California." Grover said.

"Alright Grover, we'll leave tomorrow, we'll be driving so it will take us three days to get there." I said.

Grover smiled and said, "Good, that gives me two days to finish my work here, see you in three." Grover swiped his hand through the message and the image dissolved back into the mist.

"That was easy enough, how are we driving there?" Annabeth asked. I looked at her and smiled when I held up the keys to the Prius that my mom and Paul gave me.

"We're going to take my ride." I said happily. Annabeth smiled and tried to grab the keys from my hand.

"They gave you the Prius?" Annabeth asked. I smiled a toothy grin and shook the keys in front of her.

"Jealous!" I said sarcastically. Annabeth grinned evily and started to tickle me until I dropped the keys. She grabbed them and ran to my cabin door.

"Catch me if you can seaweed brain!" She yelled as she ran out the door.

I knew she would be headed to the big house. It took me a minute to collect myself, I ran out the door after her. "You're so dead!" I yelled jokingly as I ran after her. Gods I missed this, I thought.

_**AN: A fluffy chapter, Grover's on board so it appears one mission is well on its way. I wonder how it went with Thalia and the Stolls? I guess you'll all find out next chapter.**_


	22. Lightning and Thieves

Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians

Chapter 22: Lightning and Thieves

**Thalia's POV**

Damn those two, we're counselors so we can order you around. I left my cabin and headed for the Hermes cabin to talk with Connor and Travis. This is not going to be fun that's for sure. As I reached the cabin I was surprised when Chris Rodriguez walked out holding something suspicious under his shirt. He nearly jumped out of his skin when he saw me.

"Thalia, what are you doing here?" Chris asked nervously. For a guy whose girlfriend is Clarisse he's sure acting paranoid.

"I could ask the same thing of you." I said pointedly. Chris clearly had something hidden under his shirt. "What do you have there?" He looked down at his shirt and I saw his eyes grow wide with worry.

"You won't tell anyone will you?" He asked.

"No, what do you have?" I asked again.

He pulled up his shirt and he had a bottle of liquor, actually it was vodka. "How did you get that?" I asked. I saw Chris look back towards the door he just exited and I thought about my question again. "On second thought just get out of here before Chiron or Theseus see you with that." So much for responsible camp counselors, I thought. Chris ran away with the bottle still under his shirt. I just shook my head in disbelief and reluctantly knocked on the Hermes cabin door.

"Come in." A voice yelled from the other side of the door. I opened the door and walked in, sitting at the far side of the room surrounded by boxes and boxes of stuff was Connor Stoll. I bet all of this was stolen, I thought.

"Connor, what in Hades is all this stuff?" I yelled. Connor looked at me surprised, but he recovered quickly.

"Thalia, what can I do for you?" He said sounding like a used car salesman.

"I'm putting a mission together that needs you and your brothers specific expertise." I said. I emphasized the word expertise as if it was a crime. In all reality what we're asking them to do is exactly a crime, but it wouldn't be their first.

"Really, I assume by expertise you mean of the illegal variety." Connor said. Well at least he understands what he's getting into.

"Yes, we have an item we need to find." I said cautiously.

"Thalia, if you're getting my brother and I involved this item must be really hard to find I take it." Connor said with smirk. Damn that arrogant little brat.

"It's an antidote for Nico." I said. I have to do this for him no matter how much I can't stand these two fools.

"So which god put a spell on him?" Connor asked.

"How in Hades do you know that?" I yelled. Connor grinned at me mischievously.

"A lucky guess." Connor said a little too quickly.

"You're full of it, how many people around camp know already?" I asked as I shot daggers at him. I could see the fear in his eyes, well he is smart after all.

"Only Travis and I know, we haven't spread the word yet." Connor said as he emphasized the word, yet.

"Well, you and your brother won't have the time to spread gossip as you will be helping me get the antidote from Aphrodite." I said angrily.

Connor just stared at me and smiled mischievously. "What if we choose not to help?" Connor asked.

I walked toward him and stood only two inches from his face. I raised my hand and extended and arc of electricity between my fingers only an inch from his right eye. His eyes grew large as I said, "I think you and your brother will find it hard to steal with your eyes burned out." Connor fell back into his chair and I could see him visibly gulp. "So are you and your brother in or not?" I asked threateningly.

Connor looked at me still stunned from my threat. He eventually cleared his throat and said, "We're in."

"Good, I'll meet you and Travis at the big house in three hours, don't be late." I said. I stormed out the door leaving a scared and worried Connor Stoll. Good, he and that criminal he calls a brother better behave during this mission or else, I thought as I walked to my cabin to prepare.

_Three Hours Later – Big House_

Connor, Travis and I sat at the kitchen table in the big house. Chiron and Mr. D were finishing up their pinochle game. A bright golden light appeared in the kitchen and dissolved into Theseus, god of heroes. When he saw us he smiled that infectious smile that always made you grin in return.

"Good the three of you are here." Theseus said as he looked at Connor, Travis and I. We all nodded in return. "Connor and Travis it's good that you've agreed to join Thalia in this very important mission. Nico Di Angelo as you have heard has been placed under a spell by Aphrodite herself. Athena and I have conducted some reconnaissance of our own and have discovered that the antidote for this specific spell is in warehouse on Olympus."

"You mean its not in her quarters?" I asked. She has a whole warehouse full of this stuff.

"I know it's hard to believe she could have a whole warehouse full of spells and antidotes, but she does. She will most likely have this warehouse under constant surveillance and she has the best anti-theft service on Olympus." Theseus said ominously.

"Anti-theft service?" I asked. I saw Connor and Travis's eyes grow wide.

"Isn't it obvious, she's hired my dad to install his patented security system." Connor said. I suddenly felt sick to my stomach.

"So we're not only going up against the goddess of love, but now we're going up against the god of thieves too?" I asked incredulously. This mission keeps getting better and better.

"You won't be going up against him directly just his security system. Who better to create a security system, than a thief." Theseus said. "Besides you've got two sons of Hermes on your side." Theseus smiled and motioned toward Connor and Travis.

"So you two think you can crack his security system?" I asked impatiently. Travis and Connor both looked at each then back to me with evil grins on their faces. Gods help me.

"We think so." Travis said calmly. They think so!

"Have you every gone up against your dad's system before?" I asked nervously.

They both looked at each other and the grin was gone as they turned back towards me. "No, not in a live scenario, but we have all the blue prints and schematics." Connor said.

"We're so screwed." I said. Everyone just looked at me and frowned.

"Thalia, if you can't handle this mission, we can always get someone else." Theseus said as he looked at me sadly. I felt like I was punched in the stomach. Did Theseus not have any faith in me?

"No sir, I can handle this mission." I said confidently. I certainly don't feel that confident. I guess everybody bought my act because they were smiling again. I saw Theseus nod towards Chiron.

"Heroes, Argus will drive you to the Empire State Building in the van. Make sure you have all of your materials ready by six in the morning. Your leaving early for this mission. The first task is to setup a base of operations on Olympus. Theseus and Athena have been gracious enough to allow you to use their mansion on Olympus." Chiron said as he motioned to Theseus.

"I hope I don't have to tell anyone that we expect you all to respect our home and we expect everything in it left alone." Theseus said, but he only looked at the Stoll brothers. Connor and Travis both nodded in agreement when Theseus stared at each one of them.

"Also, Connor and Travis I expect you to respect Argus. Therefore, no more knock out darts and grand theft auto. Do I make myself clear?" Chiron said ominously. The Stolls just nodded and I could see the fear in their eyes. Maybe this mission will be ok after all.

After the Stolls walked out of the big house and headed for their cabin to get ready Theseus stood in front of me, I could tell he wanted to talk.

"Thalia you can always talk to me if you need to. Are you going to be alright leading this mission?" Theseus said sounding concerned.

"Yes, I'm still mad at Nico." I said trying not to convey my other feelings,

"Well, I don't have to be Percy to tell that you're also worried about him too." Theseus said. Well so much for trying to hide that fact.

"You're right I am worried about him and I feel guilty about what happened. I know he's not acting like himself." I said sadly.

"It's alright to be worried about someone you care about. I know Nico did something foolish, but love can make people do foolish sometimes. You'll both get through this. Remember that neither one of you are alone in this. I know Zeus has not been much of a father to you and I dare say that Nico has had the same situation with Hades. You have friends and family here at camp that care for you. You have Chiron and I here to help and more importantly you have Annabeth, Percy and Grover they'll always be there when you need them." Theseus said. I knew he was right, I started to cry a little and Theseus hugged me. "It's alright my dear, if you hurry to the camp boundary you can say good-bye to Percy and Annabeth." Theseus released me from the hug and I smiled as I ran out the door toward the camp boundary. I saw Annabeth and Percy standing by my tree, they were clearly waiting for me. As I approached them they gave me a few minutes to catch my breath.

"I wanted to say good luck." I said excitedly still a little out of breath from running.

"It's alright pine cone face we'll bring him back even if I have to knock him out and drag him back here." Percy said with a smile. I smiled and hugged him, yeah me hugging well I was in that kind of mood for once. I broke the hug and pulled Annabeth into one as well. When we separated Annabeth stared at me and smiled.

"Don't worry Thals we'll get him." Annabeth said confidently. I wiped away my remaining tears and smiled.

"When you do tell him that he's not getting away from me that easy and then punch him for me alright?" I said. Annabeth and Percy both smiled at me.

"It will be our pleasure." Annabeth said. They both turned and walked down the hill and through the protective barrier. I could see Percy's Prius on the other side. Now I better get ready for my mission on Olympus, this ought to be fun.

_**AN: I hope you enjoyed this fluffy chapter. The next several chapters will switch back and forth between the two missions.**_


	23. Road to Vegas

Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians

Chapter 23: Road to Vegas

**Annabeth's POV**

As Percy and I drove away from the strawberry farm I couldn't help but feel sad for Thalia. I know she really is worried about Nico even though she tries not to show it. I guess I was being too quiet because Percy brought me back to reality.

"Earth to wise girl, come in wise girl." Percy said sarcastically. I smiled and I knew my face was as red as a strawberry.

"Sorry I was just thinking." I said. Percy just looked at me and smiled.

"You thinking, gods help me." Percy yelled as he rolled down his car window.

I turned and punched him in the arm. "Be good seaweed brain." Percy rubbed his shoulder liked it hurt, but I knew better. "You're such a faker." Percy stopped rubbing his shoulder and just gave me a mischievous smile. I started to laugh at that it felt so good.

"Feel better now." Percy said as he smiled at me sincerely. Damn, he was just trying to make me feel better.

"Yes, thank you." I said as I grabbed his right hand that was resting on the center armrest. I noticed that he wasn't wearing the gauntlet that he'd wore the other day. Instead he was wearing a celestial bronze wrist band that was three inches long and ran from the end of his hand toward his fore arm. "Where is your gauntlet?" I asked knowing we might need his armor and trident during this mission.

"That's it, I can transform it into the wrist band, the gauntlet can be a little much when your not in a battle." Percy said calmly.

"Oh, that's pretty cool." I said not knowing what else to say. I guess being a prince of Atlantis had some pretty big perks. "How was it being treated like a prince in Atlantis?"

I noticed that Percy's cheeks turned a little red and then he straightened his posture in his seat. "I hated the whole your highness or your majesty crap. It was nice to be near my dad and Amphitrite, she treated like I was her own flesh and blood. Also, Triton, Tyson and I became very good friends." Percy said. I could tell he was happy about that part.

"Well, I'm sure there weren't any young mermaids or naiyads swooning over you." I said sarcastically. Percy blushed a deep red, which surprised me, I thought he was in complete control of his emotions. "You're blushing, what happened to the great Percy Jackson I'm in complete control of my emotions?" I asked jokingly.

"Well, sometimes my control can slip a little, you just surprised me with the whole mermaid stuff." Percy said nervously.

"So there were mermaids." I said with an evil grin.

"Yeah, but I didn't give them the time of day." Percy said sincerely.

I smiled broadly when he said that. "Well, then I guess you're a good boyfriend then." I said.

"You guess!" He said with mock pain in his voice.

I smiled and then leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. "You're the best boyfriend ever."

"That sounds better and you're not bad yourself." Percy said as he smiled in return. "I love you, wise girl." Now it was my turn to blush again.

We continued to drive on toward the west. It would take us three days to reach Las Vegas. I looked over at Percy again. I couldn't believe how much he changed. His skin only had a light tan, it was so different from the dark tanned boy that I remembered. He was now so tall I couldn't believe there was a time when we were younger that I was actually taller than him. Now even though I had grown as well he was more than half a foot taller than me. He had grown up and now was a man. A man that I knew that I loved and wanted to be with for the rest of my life. No matter how much he had grown he still had those beautiful sea green eyes that I adored no matter how much he had suffered and no matter how much he had been through they were still the same. His jet black hair was still messy, but now it was very long, longer than my own hair to be exact.

"Hey seaweed brain are you going to cut your hair?" I asked. Percy just looked at me and smiled.

"You don't like my new look?" Percy said smugly. He can still be such a smart ass.

"No, I don't. I think my boyfriends hair should be shorter than mine." I said. Percy just smiled and ran his hand through his hair.

"Well, you do know that when I go to school, their going to shave it all off. I thought I'd wait until then and let school deal with it." Percy said sarcastically. His school is going to shave off all his hair. My gods I didn't know that, I love his wild and wavy hair.

"When we stop for the night could you at least get the length trimmed a little?" I asked. Percy smiled and held my hand again.

"I think that could be arranged." Percy said. He raised my hand to his face and kissed it sweetly.

We drove for another eight hours and stopped at a roadside hotel in Ohio. We got two hotel rooms with an adjoining bathroom just in case a monster attacked one of us in one of our rooms. At least that's what I told Percy, but I secretly wanted to be close to him. I know we had agreed to not take our relationship too far, but that didn't mean that we couldn't make out, for Hades sake we're nineteen after all. We both went to our rooms to unpack. I was in my room getting ready to sleep. I put on my pajamas which were white with gray owls on them, yeah I know a little childish, but they were Egyptian cotton and a gift from my mom. I heard Percy's door to his room close, I walked into the bathroom and opened the door that led to his room. Percy's room was empty his suit case was put up and he had some clothes hung up in the closet. Where did he go? I walked back into the bathroom and closed the door. I finished getting ready and then went back into my room. I laid on the bed and started to watch television. I heard the door to Percy's room open and close again. Then I heard the bathroom door open. I could heard Percy turn the shower on, I was tempted to walk into the bathroom and ask him where he went, but hey I'm not a perv. After about twenty minutes I heard the water stop running. I waited for a few minutes to let Percy dry off and then I walked to the bathroom door and knocked. The door opened and there Percy stood with a towel wrapped around his waist.

"Hey wise girl, do you need something?" Percy asked. My face felt hot, I forgot how incredible Percy's body was. It seemed like several minutes before I looked into his eyes. Actually it was only a couple of seconds, but it felt a lot longer.

"Where were you seaweed brain?" I asked curiously. Percy just pointed to his head and then I realized that his hair was cut. It was much shorter now, it was above his shoulder, but it was still the wild jet black hair that I loved. "Well, that's more like it." Percy smiled at me, he leaned down and kissed me softly. I felt the warmth radiating off his bare chest as he kissed me, I melted into the kiss and the next thing I knew my arms were wrapped around his bare back. I was amazed at how toned and refined the muscles in his back were. We finally separated from the kiss so we could breathe. I felt light headed , I looked at Percy and smiled.

"Percy, I'm tired I need sleep, good night seaweed brain." I said as I went back into my room and closed the door. I could tell that Percy was a little disappointed, but if we had continued I may not have been able to stop and I knew we weren't ready to go all of the way yet. I went to sleep that night dreaming of Percy, suffice to say I didn't sleep very well, I was too restless.

I awoke the next morning and I was still tired, but we had to leave early. I walked into the bathroom and it looked like Percy had already been in there this morning. I still had to get use to the fact that Percy was now an early riser. I got dressed and ready to leave. After I was done in the bathroom I went back into my room and finished packing. I heard a knock on my door about ten minutes later. I opened it to reveal a smiling Percy dressed in a green t-shirt and jeans with his black high tops. He had his suit case with him, he was definitely ready to go. We both checked out of the hotel and drove away in Percy's Prius. We drove for about an hour when suddenly something large hit the side of the car, I don't know how Percy was able to do it, but he managed to pull the car off to the side of the road without crashing. We both got out of the car and the front of the Prius was smashed. Imbedded in the hood of the car was a large rock about two feet in diameter. It had been thrown so hard that it destroyed the car's radiator and total smashed through the hood and was embedded in the engine. What could have thrown that? As if in answer to my question we heard movement in the woods on the other side of the highway. Suddenly a large boulder flew into the air and smashed directly onto the Prius destroying it completely. Percy looked at the car I saw his face turn red and suddenly the red color faded and he just shook his head.

"Dammit, I just got this car and guess what a monster destroys it already. Good thing I have insurance." Percy said. I was dumbstruck and yeah me a daughter of Athena, the old Percy would have been so mad he would charged in recklessly after the monster who did this. I didn't have time to think more about that because just then three Lastrygonians emerged from the forest on the opposite side of the road. They each carried a large club and they were at least fifteen feet tall. "Looks like they want to play."

"How do you want to handle this?" I asked. Usually I'd come up with a strategy, but they did just destroy Percy's car.

"I see that you have your cap, you go invisible and stab them as many times as it takes to vaporize them while I distract them." Percy said. I was about to ask him how he was going to distract them when he touched the wrist band on his right arm and his gauntlet appeared, it cover his hand up to his knuckles and stretched over most of his forearm. After that it was a blur Percy's armor and helmet extended over his body, his shield appeared on his left arm and out of nowhere his trident appeared in his right hand. Once his weapons were in place Percy ran towards the monsters it was a sight to see, but I had my own part to play. I touched my bracelet on my left wrist and my own adamantine shield extended. I placed my cap on my head and I became invisible, I ran into the fight brandishing my knife, this should be fun I thought.

_**To be continued, but sorry next chapter will take place on Olympus we need to see how the mission against Aphrodite is proceeding. No worries we will be back to the battle on the highway soon.**_


	24. Thalia's Three

Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians

Chapter 24: Thalia's Three

**Thalia's POV**

"'Thalia's Three' you know like that Ocean's Eleven movie." Connor said.

I could see the mischievous grin on Travis's face. "That's so cool, I like it." Travis said happily.

"Do you two ever shut up, this isn't a game this is a serious mission." I said angrily. So much for having fun on this mission, we haven't even left camp and they have already pissed me off.

"Yes ma'am!" Travis and Connor said with a smirk on their faces.

"You can call me Thalia that's it, got it." I yelled. I could see the fear on their faces as they nodded. "Good!"

After what seemed like three hours of packing all our stuff, which was mostly the Stoll brothers crap that they said we had to take. We finally left camp and headed for Manhattan. Argus drove us to the city without an incident and I only thought about killing the Stolls two times on the entire trip. We finally arrived at the Empire State Building I grabbed my duffel bag and headed inside. After what seemed like twenty minutes of arguing that there was a 600th floor, that I needed the key to the elevator and that we would be delivering materials to a specific residence the security guard finally relented. I assume the small shock I gave him with a nice electric jolt to the hand finally did the trick. I informed the Stolls that they were going to bring all their crap up by themselves. They were pretty upset by that, but I didn't give a crap at the moment. I took the elevator up to the 600th floor and exited. I walked into Olympus, the city was buzzing with activity as usual. I made my way to the residence of Athena and Theseus. It was a beautiful white marble structure and looked like a museum and not a home. The main entrance consisted of four very large Corinthian columns. The front door was a light gray with green trim around it. I approached the door and saw two large door knockers. The one on the left was in the shape of an owl and the one on the right was in the shape of a Pegasus. I grabbed the Pegasus knocker and tapped three times on the door. Eventually the door opened slowly and standing in front of me was Theseus smiling broadly.

"Welcome to my home, dear cousin." Theseus said. He said smiling all I could do was smile in return.

"Good Morning, sir." I said. Theseus grinned at me and motioned for me to come inside.

"Thalia, you know that you can call me Theseus and none of that Lord crap, ok?" Theseus said. I couldn't help, but smile wider.

"Yes, Theseus thanks for allowing us to use your home as a base of operations." I said.

"It was Athena's idea actually, but I agree that it makes perfect sense. Follow me and I will show you to your sleeping quarters. Where are Travis and Connor?" Theseus asked.

"They're bringing their stuff. I'm sorry but they have a lot of crap." I said. Theseus chuckled to himself.

"Well, I'm sure it will be needed. Those two are severe pains, but they really know their stuff when it comes to this line of work." Theseus said as he emphasized the word 'work'.

"You mean crime, don't you?" I said with a smile. Theseus nodded, I could tell he was amused.

I followed Theseus into the house, mansion really. The main foyer was huge the ceiling was at least three stories tall and had several sky lights. The walls were painted a beautiful blue-green color with gray accents. The first thing that I noticed was the large spiral staircase that led to the upper floors. It was a beautiful mix of dark grained wood and celestial bronze. I followed Theseus up the stair case till we reached the third floor. I saw three doors to my left off of the main hallway at the top of the stair case.

"These three rooms have been assigned to your team; one for you, one for the Stolls and one as a base of operations." Theseus said.

"Thank you." I said.

"There are two restrooms one at each end of this hallway and the kitchen is in the back of the house on the main floor. I have to get back to camp, good luck my dear." Theseus said as he disappeared into a golden light. I walked into the first room, it was beautiful. The walls were a pale green and the main window was huge. I could see all of Olympus from it. There was a large bed in the center of the room and there was plenty of furniture to store my clothes and belongings. I opened the large closet and noticed that there were extra clothes and they were just my size. I saw a note on the dresser, it was from Athena.

_Dear Thalia,_

_ Little sister, please enjoy yourself while you are here. I will be around to check on you when I can._

_Love, Athena _

Athena had always been so nice to me. I just wish my other half-sisters were as nice. I heard a noise outside my door I opened it and saw the Stolls lugging all of their equipment up the stairs. By the time they were finished they looked exhausted.

"Where … do … we … sleep?" Travis said between breaths. I smiled at him and pointed to the third door down.

"Where … do … we … put … this … stuff?" Connor asked between breaths as he dropped the last box on the floor. My smile broadened as I pointed to the middle door. Connor nodded and started to pile boxes up in that room. I watched them work until they were finished and then they went to their room. I heard each one fall on a bed and the next thing I knew I heard snoring coming from the room. Well, I guess all that carrying wore them out. Good, they won't be able to work any mischief if they're asleep, I thought.

I walked down stairs and entered the kitchen, it was incredible. There were two refrigerators, stainless steel. There was a beautiful flat top stainless steel stove, a large stainless steel microwave, actually all the appliances were stainless steel. The cabinets were a beautiful dark cherry color and the countertops were made of black granite. The floor was a beautiful stone with gray, red and green colors. The walls were painted a pale gray that matched the floor. I found some food in the refrigerator and made me a sandwich. I ate and as I was cleaning up I heard footsteps running down the stairs. The Stolls ran into the kitchen with their hair all a mess. I guess they just woke up.

"Are you hungry?" I asked. They both nodded in agreement. "There is some food in the refrigerator make you a sandwich then we need to go setup your stuff in the room upstairs, understand?" They both nodded in agreement again. "I'll meet you up there and don't forget to clean up after yourselves we're in Theseus and Athena's house?" I said. They both nodded in agreement, if they keep doing that their heads might fall off, I thought. It's like talking to little kids with those two miscreants.

I walked back upstairs and opened the door to the middle room that was going to serve as our base of operations. There were at least twenty boxes stacked up against one wall. The room had been designed as an office. The walls were a plain white color and the only furniture were two desks on separate walls. I did notice that there were two phone jacks and two data line jacks. I grabbed one box and opened it. I found two telephones, so I went ahead and hooked them up. The lines were active so we now had two working phone lines. The door to the room opened, Travis and Connor walked in and started to help me unpack. I saw Connor open a box and start to setup a computer on one of the desks while Travis setup a second computer on the other desk. I noticed that each computer had two very large monitors.

"Why two monitors for each computer?" I asked. Travis just looked at me and smiled.

"Surveillance." Travis said. Then I noticed Connor holding several small cameras about the size of a ballpoint pen. "These are small scale video surveillance cameras we have ten of them so we should be able to keep the warehouse under constant surveillance.

"What are those?" I asked. They looked like some type of beetle. I saw Connor smile.

"These are high tech audio surveillance devices." Connor said.

"You mean bugs, right?" I asked. Connor started to laugh.

"Right and it has nothing to do with their shape." Connor said trying to contain his laughter. Whatever smart ass, I thought.

"Here put this on." Travis said as he threw a black watch at me. I caught it and slipped it on my right wrist because Aegis was on my left. I looked at the watch puzzled for a moment and then I saw Travis smile. "It's a watch, but much more. We can use it to communicate with each other. It also allows us to track your whereabouts it has an imbedded GPS in it."

We finished unpacking and I couldn't believe all the stuff they had. Some of it was incredibly high tech. "Where did you get all of this stuff?" I asked.

"You don't want to know." Travis said. They way he said that really made me not want to know. Then I saw Connor pull out a white box and then he opened up two pares of legs under it, it was some kind of table.

"What is that?" I asked.

"A light table." Travis said matter-of-factly.

"Why do we need that?" I asked.

"To read these blueprints." Connor said. Connor unrolled the blueprints and sat them on the light table. The blueprints were for the warehouse and I had no idea how they got them.

"How did you get those?" I asked. Connor looked at me and smiled deviously.

"Let's just say that you should talk to Annabeth about her security measures for her office." Connor said. He stole them from Annabeth's office on Olympus, when in Hades did they do that?

"I don't want to know when you found time to do that, just make sure they go back where they belong when we're finished." I said, Connor smiled and then nodded in acknowledgement. These two are something else.

After about an hour we had unpacked all but three boxes. We each grabbed one and started to unpack. The only thing my box had in it was a black leather bag. It looked like one of those old fashioned doctor's bags, like when physicians actually made house calls. "What's this?" I asked. Connor's eyes lit up when he saw what I was holding.

"Hey, that's Doctor Pick-It's bag." Connor said. I saw a smile explode across Travis's face.

"Hey, let me see that." Travis said. They started fighting over the bag until they were lying on the floor kicking each other and pulling on the bag handle.

I forcibly grabbed the bag out of their hands and yelled, "What in Hades are you two fools doing, what's in this bag and who is Doctor Pick-It?" They both stopped fighting and stood up. Then they both looked at me and smiled.

"Doctor Pick-It is the name of our lock pick and safe cracker tool bag." Travis said matter-of-factly. Like I would know that, what an idiot?

"So you think we're going to need it?" I asked. They both smiled and looked at me like I was a fool.

"Of course, it works great for breaking and entering, grand theft auto, safe cracking, and a few other felonies." Connor said. At least he knows those things are crimes, I thought.

We finished the last of the unpacking and when we completed the setup I looked around the room to see that the room looked like the base for some covert operation. They had pulled a black sheet over the window. They set up microscopes for analysis. They had both computers running some algorithm that was supposedly working on finding the codes for the Hermes Alarm System that was in the warehouse. There were three chairs in the room, one at each computer and the other at the analysis station. Besides the microscope the analysis station included equipment for photography, finger printing, image scanning, iris matching, voice recognition and light refraction. I had no idea what we would use any of this for, it was like we were in some kind of crime lab, except the lab was run by the criminals.

"Are we really going to need all of this stuff?" I asked incredulously.

"You never know, it might be an easy job, but one thing I've learned in my years of experience is that nothing is as easy as it seems." Travis said. I looked at him like he was an idiot.

"Travis you're eighteen, how many years of experience can you have?" I asked.

"Well, let's just say that Connor and I have been doing this kind of stuff for awhile, when other kids were playing Hide and Seek, we were playing breaking and entering." Travis said. So their not just criminals they're experienced criminals. I wasn't sure if I should feel better or worse. I went to prepare lunch while the Stolls worked on whatever they were doing I came back with the food, which they devoured gladly.

"What do we need to do first?" I asked.

"We need to setup surveillance equipment. Here let me pull up a map of the warehouse and surrounding structures." Connor said. His hands flew across the keyboard of the computer and in a matter of seconds he had an aerial view of the warehouse and surrounding structures. "The building on the west would be a perfect place to setup our equipment, the building on the south as well. On the north side there are two structures so we will have to put equipment on both buildings so we cover all the area that we need. Lastly, the east side has no buildings on it, but we have several light poles that would be perfect. We will have to borrow a utility vehicle from the Olympus Power Company. It shouldn't be too hard. Travis, how are you coming with hacking into their network?" I looked over at Travis dumbfounded.

"I'm in the system right now." Travis said. I looked over his shoulder and sure enough he was in the utility company computer system.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"Scheduling service on those two utility poles and setting a truck route for tomorrow morning. I have already set Travis, you and I up as the workers for that truck. Here's your identification badge." Travis said as he handed me a badge, the picture was me, but I looked a little older and the name on it said Alexandra Thales. These guys were good I couldn't tell that the badge was a forgery. I have to admit it maybe we can pull this off.

"Good, so we're set for tomorrow. I'm going to sleep see you all in the morning." I said as I walked to my room and closed the door. Connor and Travis just nodded and went back to their scheming. Well I guess I've come back full circle on this mission, we might be able to pull this off after all.

_**I hope you liked this chapter, I know there was no action, but I wanted to setup the Stolls as the master thieves that they are. Next chapter back to Percy and Annabeth. Also, for those who want to see the big three confronting Aphrodite don't worry they will. Also, isn't it interesting how Thalia's Three rhymes with Thalia's Tree, hmm!**_


	25. Road Warriors

Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians

Chapter 25: Road Warriors

**Annabeth's POV**

I warched as Percy ran into battle with his Atlantean battle armor on. He looked like a knight from medieval times about to fight a dragon. The first Lastrygonian threw a rock, but Percy easily deflected it with his shield. Percy moved so quickly that none of the three monsters could catch him. I waited until I saw my chance and I attacked one of the monsters as soon as it bent over to try and hit Percy. I landed on its back and stabbed my knife between its shoulder blades. I grabbed hard on the hilt of the knife and slid down the monster's back cutting a huge gash as I moved. When I reached the ground I looked up to see the monster disappear in a shower of gold. One of the monster ran towards the one I just dispatched it moved so fast that I couldn't get out of the way it was going to run into me at full force, I closed my eyes and waited for the impact. After a second or two with my eyes closed I opened and I couldn't see the monster, instead laying on the ground covered in golden monster dust was Percy's trident. Then I realized what happened Percy must have thrown his trident and took out the monster before it hit me. I looked over and saw Percy fighting the last monster with Riptide in his hand. How did he know it was going to hit me? That's all I thought about, then I heard a loud noise and then I realized the last monster had pulled a tree out of the ground, it was going to hit Percy. I saw the tree swing at Percy and I yelled his name, but the tree smashed where he had stood and my heart literally jumped out of my chest. Then I saw something shine on the back of the monster, it was Percy in his battle armor. How did he get up there? The monster must have realized by now that he had missed and was now trying to grab Percy. I saw Percy jump up from the monsters back with Riptide raised and the next thing I saw was the head of the monster rolling across the highway as it's body dissolved into golden dust. Percy slowly walked over to me, how did he know where I was my hat was still on? I took off my cap and looked back toward Percy, his armor was now gone and Riptide was back in his pocket. As he approached me he smiled broadly and I couldn't help but smile in return.

"Good work wise girl." Percy said happily.

"You too, thanks for saving me." I said, I might be a daughter of Athena, but I can thank someone from time to time. "How did you know where I was?" I asked. Percy looked at me thoughtfully and I could see him struggle with the answer.

"Actually I have know idea, I just knew." Percy said contemplatively. Part of his new abilities I guess. Percy walked over and grabbed his trident from the ground and I watch as it dissolved back into his gauntlet and then the gauntlet morphed back into the bronze wristband.

We walked back over to the remains of the car Percy was barely able to open the trunk to pull out our belongings.

"What do we do now?" I asked. Percy smiled and pulled out a black I-Phone, how did he get that?

"When did you get a cell phone?" I asked.

"It was Theseus's idea, he said that Hephaestus and Hermes developed an APP for the I-Phone that scrambles the signal so monsters can't track us, cool huh?" Percy said.

"Sure is, when do I get one?" I asked. Percy smiled and handed me the phone.

"This is a prototype, but you can have it if you want." Percy said. He was giving me this one of a kind phone.

"Why are you giving it to me, Theseus gave it to you?" I asked.

"Hey, I don't really need one, besides you always liked having a cell phone, I'd feel better if you had it anyway." Percy said sincerely. Awe, he was worried about me, he's such a seaweed brain still.

"So who should I call?" I asked. I saw Percy think for a moment and then I could see a thought cross his face.

"I know, let me see the phone for a moment." Percy said. I gave him the phone and he dialed a number. "Yes my name is Percy Jackson and I'm insured by your company we just had an unfortunate accident and our car is totaled. We need a rental car so we can finish our travels. So you can find us with the GPS in the car? Good, we'll be waiting by the vehicle, thank you." Percy turned off the phone and handed it back to me.

"You called your insurance company?" I said. Percy nodded then smiled.

"Wait for it." Percy said smugly. A bright yellow light appeared in front of us and when the light dissolved a brand new Toyota Highlander Hybrid stood before us. The driver side door opened and a smiling Hermes came out.

"I'm so glad to see that both of you are alright. Percy your car is a wreck, what happened?" Hermes said. He was dressed as usual with a jogging suit and his winged shoes.

Percy just looked at him and smiled, let's just say that sometimes monsters hit their targets. I saw Hermes grimace, so they totaled your vehicle, good thing that you have Hermes Auto Insurance.

I smiled at that. "Hermes you have a car insurance company?" I asked.

Hermes smiled and said, "Yes, my dear actually Percy is one of my first customers, Theseus was kind enough to set Percy up with an insurance policy."

"Cousin, I must say that your company is incredibly prompt and the service is great." Percy said.

Hermes grinned at the compliment. "Thanks, Perce you don't know how much that means to me. Here are your keys to the Highlander, enjoy and don't worry we'll get you a replacement car when you get home." Hermes said, as he disappeared in a golden light.

Percy and I loaded our bags in the back and drove off toward Las Vegas.

"Percy, this time maybe you should do a better job of keeping your eyes on the road." I said jokingly.

"Hey, I can't help it if you're very distracting." Percy said. I just smiled back at him I guess I can still effect his emotions. That's good to know.

"One question, I like your Atlantean battle armor, but what happened to the armor that Theseus gave you? I know I still have mine back at camp." I asked.

"Well, actually the armor Theseus gave us was ceremonial, its not really meant for battle. So I still have it, but I would only wear it for special occasions not when I'm about to fight a charging Lastrygonian." Percy said.

"I used mine in the last Capture the Flag." I said. Percy just looked at me in shock.

"You did? Did Theseus see you?" Percy asked

"I don't know." I said worriedly. Would that make Theseus mad if he saw me wearing the ceremonial armor for Capture the Flag?

"Good, I'll have to talk to dad and Tyson about getting you some real battle armor." Percy said confidently.

"OK, thank you." I said. That's all I could think of.

"Don't worry Wise Girl no problem unless the armor was damaged." Percy said. I forgot, I did get hit with a sword and there was a gash in the armor. I just assumed it could be fixed easily.

"Percy, it was damaged a little." I said. Percy looked at me a little concerned and then I felt like someone just punched me in the stomach. "What's wrong?"

"That armor is very hard to fix without adding to the damage. I'll talk to Tyson, I'm sure we'll figure something out." Percy said reassuringly. I hope he's right I wouldn't want Theseus to be disappointed.

I tried to put aside any worries about the armor and concentrate on our current mission. We kept driving to the west and hopefully we would be in Las Vegas in another day and a half. I wonder how Thalia and the Stolls are getting along. I hope Thalia hasn't killed them yet.

_**I know this was a short chapter, but these chapters will be short as we go back and forth between the two missions, enjoy. I had a few people ask about Percy's new armor versus the one he got at the end of Darkness Approaches, I hope this chapter helped.**_


	26. Hurry It Up!

Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians

Chapter 26: Hurry It Up!

**_AN: A short setup chapter, so its not the best, but it's needed for the next part of Thalia's mission._**

**Thalia's POV**

I awoke the next morning fully rested and ready for the day ahead. I went to the bathroom and got ready for today's work. After I was cleaned and dressed I walked downstairs to the massive kitchen and fixed breakfast, I'm usually not the best cook, but when I was with the hunters we all took turns cooking, I found that I actually liked it, go figure huh! For whatever reason, I cooked enough breakfast for all three of us. I ate my breakfast waiting for the Stolls to come down. I eventually heard them run down the steps they entered the kitchen actually half-way presentable.

"Good to see that you two are actually taking this seriously." I stated.

They both looked at me and smiled. They saw the breakfast and dug in finishing all of it. "Thalia you're a great cook." Travis said gladly. I just nodded and smiled.

"So I guess we need to go to the power company first, right?" I asked expectantly.

"Yes, we're all ready, everyone have their badges?" Travis asked. Connor and I nodded. We walked to the power company service station and entered. We showed our badges, the security allowed us to enter without any problems. So far so good I thought. We made our way to the locker room and changed into our service technician clothes. We made our way to the truck yard and found our ladder truck that was waiting for us. We entered the vehicle and I drove us off the lot. It was only a few minutes drive to the warehouse. When we approached the warehouse I noticed that it was very large, it took up an entire city block. The walls were painted white, but they were clearly made of concrete. There were four overhead doors on one side of the building and I could see a truck unloading cargo at one of the bays.

We drove to the lot across the street that contained the two large utility poles. I positioned the truck in the exact spot to allow the large arm of the truck to lift up the service basket. Connor was working the extension arm controls while Travis road in the service basket. Connor easily maneuvered the arm in position and extended the service basket to the appropriate height. Travis immediately began his work of installing the surveillance equipment. After about thirty minutes Travis signaled that we should bring him down. Connor lowered the arm back in place. I drove the truck over to the second utility pole and we repeated the process. After another thirty minutes we had installed the last of the surveillance equipment. We then proceeded to go to the buildings that surrounded the warehouse to install the other surveillance equipment. We were never questioned about our appearance in these buildings as everyone assumed that we were real utility workers. After about five hours of work we had completely installed all of the needed equipment. We drove the truck back to the truck yard and changed back into our regular clothes. We left the utility company's service station without ever being questioned. I have to admit, the Stolls did a great job in handling this part of the mission.

We walked back to the mansion and entered. We all went up stairs and cleaned up for dinner. We were all tired and dirty from our work today. When I finished in the bathroom I walked downstairs to the kitchen and started to cook dinner. The first to come downstairs was Connor, I motioned for him to sit down as I handed him a plate of food.

"Thanks, Thalia." Connor said. I watched him eat the food I prepared happily. A few minutes later Travis walked in and proceeded to sit at the table across from his brother. I gave him a plate of food as well and watched him devour it.

"Thalia, thanks for asking us on this mission." Travis said. I could see Connor nod in agreement.

"You're welcome, but I didn't have much choice, you're the experts in this sort of thing." I said. The Stolls both smiled when I called them experts. I just rolled my eyes at their childishness.

We all finished eating our food and then we walked up stairs to review our surveillance footage. Connor sat at one computer and Travis at the other. I sat in the middle of the room so I could see both computers. Connor pulled up the north and south surveillance data. I could see the two sides of the warehouse. We could keep track of employees, visitors, security and especially their timing. I looked over to Travis, his computer showed the east and west sides of the warehouse. I could see the loading area that was on east side as well as the main street side entrance on the west.

"We're both recording all the data and the computer will run our surveillance algorithms to establish any visible patterns." Travis said. I could see Connor nod in agreement.

"What do we do now just wait for the computers to spit out their analysis?" I asked anxiously. I saw both Stoll brothers look at me and smile.

"Patience!" They both said at the same time. That's definitely creepy coming from twin brothers. Sometimes I wonder if they share a brain.

Suddenly a bright golden light appeared in the room and when it dissolved Athena was standing before us. "Lady Athena!" All three of us said at the same time. I saw Athena survey the room and she looked impressed by what she saw.

"It looks like you have a pretty good setup here." Athena said. "Thalia, I hope my brother's two boys haven't been too much trouble." I looked at Athena and smiled fiendishly because I could see the worried looks on the Stoll brother's faces.

"No, they've been pretty good, so far." I said. I just had to throw in the "so far" just for emphasis. I could tell the Stolls were relieved, but only a little. I guess I shouldn't tell Athena about their little theft from Annabeth's office.

Athena and I left the Stolls in our base of operations we walked downstairs to the kitchen and sat at the table. I could tell that Athena needed to talk to me.

"Thalia, how are you, really?" Athena asked sincerely. I didn't know what to say, but it's hard to lie to Athena especially when you know she can see right through you.

"I'm worried about Nico. He's gone back to the casino he was there for seventy years before, what happens if he won't leave now?" I asked as I tried not to cry. I could tell that Athena new I was close to tears because she put a hand on my shoulder.

"It's alright little sister, Percy and Annabeth will bring him back even if they have to drag him out of there." Athena said confidently. I just looked at her and I was amazed by how much she looked like Annabeth or I guess it was the other way around. Other than Annabeth's blond hair she was the spitting image of Athena. Annabeth may have been taller, but they both carried themselves the same way and their eyes were identical.

"I hope they can, Nico is definitely not himself now. I'm still mad at him for getting into this mess and I hate myself for making things worse." I said sadly.

Athena pulled me into a hug and I let myself cry for the first time since I arrived on Olympus. We finally separated after a few minutes. Athena wiped the last tears from my eyes. "Now isn't that better?" Athena asked. I never knew she could be so nice and so caring. I had heard from Annabeth many times how her mother had changed since Theseus came back, but this is the first time that I truly understood what she meant.

"Yes, thank you." I said. I did feel a little better. "Why are you here, is it just to check on me?" Athena smiled and I could tell there was another reason.

"Yes, there is another reason. You need to speed up your operation. Zeus and Hades will be meeting with Aphrodite tomorrow evening. They will try to keep her as busy as possible." Athena said. I could tell that she was very serious.

"How long will we have?" I asked with concern in my voice.

"No more than five hours I would suppose, maybe less." Athena said.

"Why do we need to hurry?" I asked curiously.

"Well, we found out that Aphrodite knows that we are going to try to steal the antidote, so I've heard from Hermes that she is going to move it somewhere safer." Athena said.

"So if we're going to get it we'll have to get it done tomorrow night, thats it." I said.

"That's correct my dear, I'm sorry to make the mission more difficult." Athena said sincerely. I could tell she was sincerely sorry.

"It's not your fault, we'll have to make do." I said confidently.

"I know that you can do this, good luck." Athena said, I could tell she was ready to leave.

Before she could leave I asked, "Have you heard from Annabeth or Percy?"

"Yes, they should be in Las Vegas, tomorrow morning." Athena said. I hope they can bring him back. "Don't worry they'll get him." Athena hugged me and then disappeared into a golden light. I walked back upstairs and informed my teammates. The Stolls were concerned, but as if this was a common occurrence they shook off any doubts and sat down to plan. We planned through the night. We finished around eleven in the evening and I felt better about our chances. There wasn't a lot of room for error, but I prayed to my dad and Athena for success.

_**For those who wanted Hades and Zeus to confront Aphrodite, well this chapter set that up, wait and see. Next back to Percy and Annabeth as they arrive at the Lotus Casino.**_


	27. Viva Las Vegas!

Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians

Chapter 27: Viva Las Vegas!

**Percy's POV**

After driving a full day non-stop we arrived in Las Vegas. It was early afternoon in the city the place is certainly different in the day time. I could still see all the casinos and hotels, but the magnificent lights and energy of the evening wasn't there. We drove to the Lotus Casino and I parked in the adjacent garage. Annabeth and I left our car and walked to the casino.

"We need to act like we're here for the casino, nothing else." Annabeth said anxiously.

"No tasting of lotus leaves." I said. Annabeth just gave me a look that said 'duh' as we walked into the casino. When we entered I was flooded with the memories of the last time we were here. The room was a combination a vibrant colors; reds, greens and yellows. Around the perimeter of the room were one armed bandits and in the center were the other games such as blackjack and roulette. "Where's Grover?" I said. As if in answer to my question I saw Grover on a stage dancing with some show girls. What in Hades is he doing? I could tell by Annabeth's expression that she was equally concerned.

"He must have eaten the lotus." Annabeth said. How could he be so stupid, I thought?

"So now we have to rescue him and Nico, just great." I said as I shook my head in disbelief. Annabeth put her hand on my shoulder and led me to the front of a stage on the other side of the casino. Annabeth pointed to a sign that said now playing the Hellhounds, that certainly peaked my interest. The stage curtain opened and there was a rock band getting ready to play. The lead singer had his back to us, but I could tell he was around six feet in height with dark black hair. He was wearing all black except his shows were a sparkling silver color. I suddenly had a bad feeling about this singer. The music began to play I recognized the song as 'Gives You Hell' by the All-American Rejects. Then the singer turned around and I froze, it was Nico. Then Nico began to sing;

_I wake up every evening with a big smile on my face_

_And it never feels out of place_

_And you're still probably working at a 9 to 5 pace_

_I wonder how bad that tastes_

_When you see my face_

_Hope it gives you hell, hope it gives you hell_

_When you walk my way_

_Hope it gives you hell, hope it gives you hell_

_Now where's your picket fence, love?_

_And where's that shiny car?_

_And did it ever get you far?_

_You never seemed so tense, love_

_I've never seen you fall so hard_

_Do you know where you are?_

_And truth be told I miss you_

_And Truth be told I'm lying_

_When you see my face_

_Hope it gives you hell, hope it gives you hell_

_When you walk my way_

_Hope it gives you hell, hope it gives you hell_

_If you find a man that's worth a damn and treats you well_

_Then he's a fool, you're just as well, hope it gives you hell_

_I hope it gives you hell_

_Tomorrow you'll be thinking to yourself_

_Yeah, where did it all go wrong?_

_But the list goes on and on_

_Truth be told I miss you_

_And truth be told I'm lying_

_When you see my face_

_Hope it gives you hell, hope it gives you hell_

_When you walk my way_

_Hope it gives you hell, hope it gives you hell_

_If you find a man that's worth a damn and treats you well_

_Then he's a fool, you're just as well, hope it gives you hell_

_Now you'll never see what you've done to me_

_You can take back your memories, they're no good to me_

_And here's all your lies, you can look me in the eyes_

_With the sad, sad look that you wear so well_

_When you see my face_

_Hope it gives you hell, hope it gives you hell_

_When you walk my way_

_Hope it gives you hell, hope it gives you hell_

_If you find a man that's worth a damn and treats you well_

_Then he's a fool, you're just as well, hope it gives you hell_

_When you see my face_

_Hope it gives you hell, hope it gives you hell_

_(Hope it gives you hell)_

_When you walk my way_

_Hope it gives you hell, hope it gives you hell_

_(Hope it gives you hell)_

_When you hear this song and you sing along,_

_Well you'll never tell_

_And you're the fool, I'm just as well, hope it gives you hell_

_When you hear this song I hope that it will give you hell_

_You can sing along, I hope that it puts you through hell_

"Wow, he sings pretty well. Do you think he's singing about Thalia?" I asked. Annabeth just looked at me with an angry expression.

"He's lucky Thalia isn't here. She'd kick his butt, spell or no spell, lotus or no lotus." Annabeth said angrily. I knew she was right.

"It won't be easy convincing him to leave." I said.

"Oh, he'll go don't worry." Annabeth said as she took out her knife and pointed it at Nico. I'd seen that look on her face before, if Nico knew what was good for him he would go along with whatever she said.

"Excuse me sir, would you like a lotus." A waitress asked. I could tell that she knew exactly what these things did to people.

"No thank you!" I said. I grabbed Annabeth by the arm and led her backstage.

"What's going on?" Annabeth yelled. I raised my finger to my lips to let her know to quiet down.

"We need to be careful not to tip off their security or they'll come after us." I said. Annabeth nodded in realization. "We need to get Nico and Grover then quietly sneak out of …" Someone cut me off.

"Hello Perseus, welcome back." A large security guard said standing directly behind me. I began to move and he stuck a metal object in my back, it was gun. "No sudden movements, I would hate to splatter your blood all over your lovely girlfriend." I froze and slowly raised my hands. Annabeth saw me and gave me a questioning look that is until she saw the large security guard behind me. Annabeth reached for her knife, but the guard saw her. "Not so fast young lady or your boyfriend here gets it." He actually said that, now I really thought I was in a mobster movie. He pushed me forward until another guard arrived he shoved a gun into Annabeth's back and forced her to walk from behind the stage to the security office. The first guard forced me to follow Annabeth. The security office was a plain white walled room with a table and four chairs. The floor was made of black tile and one large fluorescent light hung from the ceiling. "Sit here!" The two guards pushed us each into a chair and then secured our hands behind our backs with plastic ties.

A few minutes later a waitress came in with two lotus leaves on a plate. The guards thanked her as she walked out the door. The second guard grabbed Annabeth and I tried to break the ties, which I would have done except something hit me in the back of the head, the whole room went black. The last thing I heard was Annabeth screaming my name.

I awoke in the white room with the bright light in my face and a horrible headache. I was the only person in the room, no Annabeth and no guards. Where in Hades is everyone? The door to the room opened and the two guards walked back in with a lotus flower. The large guard grabbed me and held me still. The second guard forcibly opened my mouth and shoved the lotus flower in it. Then the guards forced me to swallow it. My head started to spin, I felt nauseous for a moment and then the room went black again.

I awoke again, but this time I was in a stateroom of the casino. My head was pounding, but I could think clearly. Then I remembered that I ate the lotus flower, but I didn't feel any different. I still remembered my mission and what I needed to do. The lotus flower had no effect on me at all. I knew I could use that to my advantage. I developed a plan, and yes I can plan. I knew that I would have to rescue three people instead of just one. This wasn't going to be easy, but it had to be done. I stood up and walked out of the stateroom and headed downstairs to the casino to implement my rescue plan. I sure hope this works.

_**Well, let's hope the new and improved Percy knows what he's doing. Next chapter is entitled, Thieves of Love.**_


	28. Thieves of Love Part 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians

Chapter 28: Thieves of Love Part 1

**Thalia's POV**

I awoke the next morning ready to go. We had a plan that I thought would work and so did the Stolls. I prepared myself for the day and went down to the kitchen to make breakfast. This may sound odd, but I felt a little motherly to the Stolls. Yeah, I know that sounds crazy, me motherly. I felt responsible for them and I hoped they appreciated that because if they screwed this up I would make them pay. Now I do feel more like myself. I finished cooking and sat down to eat breakfast. After about ten minutes I heard the Stoll brothers run down the steps and head for the kitchen.

"Good morning." They said in that weird twin brother way of theirs.

"Good morning, I made breakfast." I said as I pointed to the food on the table. They both grabbed a plate and devoured it all.

After they finished eating I was ready to get today's work started. "How are the preparations?" I asked curiously.

"Great, we have rented an office on the top floor of the four story office building on the north side of the warehouse. We should be able to use it as a on-site base of operations." Travis said. That sounded pretty good.

"How are we going to move all of our gear?" I asked anxiously. I saw Travis smile as he nodded toward Connor.

"Yes, I rented us a moving van it should be here within the hour." Connor said. Where did the money come from, I thought?

"How could we afford all of this?" I asked. Travis and Connor both started to laugh.

"Well, let's just say that it was pretty easy to break into Aphrodite's bank account, much easier than breaking into the warehouse." Travis said with an evil grin on his face.

"You broke into a bank account and stole funds. Do gods have bank accounts?" I said completely shocked. Now that I think about it I should have expected as much.

"Sure, we thought since Aphrodite caused this mess, she should help pay to fix it and yes gods have bank accounts. Well, at least some of them do for special projects" Connor said.

"I don't agree with stealing, but in this case I will make an exception." I said. I could tell that they both were relieved. I guess they thought I might kick their butts. 'Tell me again the reason for the office space."

"Well, since we do not have the time to do a thorough casing of the joint I think one of us will have to stay in the base to keep an eye out for trouble why the other two steal the antidote." Connor said. Yeah, he just said case the joint, I thought I was in some bank robbery film. As soon as Connor finished talking I heard a horn from outside the mansion. We all ran outside and saw a black moving van. The driver handed the keys to me and Connor signed the paper work. The driver walked away like this was a usual occurrence.

"We need to get our gear loaded." I said. Connor and Travis smiled when I said our gear I guess they think I'm just one of the gang. I guess I am for right now and by the way one of the gang is definitely appropriate for this situation. The three of us began to load the moving van. With all three of us working together we had the van loaded in two hours. It was now ten in the morning we had two hours to setup the office and then eight hours until it was dark outside. For those eight hours we would prepare for the evenings activities. I just hoped that my father and uncle would be able to keep Aphrodite busy enough. We left the mansion and made our way to the office building that was across the street on the north side of Aphrodite's warehouse. After two hours of unloading the van and two more hours of setting up our new field base as the Stolls called it, we were ready for the evenings work. For the next six hours we completed our plans and prepared for a very unusual mission, at least it was unusual to me.

_Five Hours Later – Throne Room – Olympus_

**Athena's POV**

I sat on my throne waiting for my father and uncle to arrive. I was a little worried about the confrontation with Aphrodite, not for her sake, but we had to give Thalia and her team time to retrieve the antidote. Suddenly a brilliant light filled the room and dissolved into my father, Zeus the king of the gods. I stood and walked over to him, he gave me a light hug and I could tell that he was worried.

"Tell me that Thalia and her team are ready?" Zeus asked expectantly. He was dressed in his usual pin striped business suit with his hair down to his shoulders and his long beard. His piercing electric blue eyes sparked with energy, but I could tell he was concerned about this confrontation with my sister.

"Thalia and her team are set they will start their operation as soon as the sun sets." I said reassuringly. My fathere sighed a little and I could tell that he felt slightly more at ease with this mission. Suddenly a large ball of fire appeared in the room and exploded, when the dust settled Hades was standing if front of us.

"Brother, my dear niece." Hades said as he walked toward us. No matter the that Hades was on much better terms with my father and me I still couldn't get over the fact that this was the same god who ruled over the underworld and Tartarus in particular. Hades was dressed in all black his dark hair hung over his ears and down to his shoulders. His short curly beard was neatly trimmed and he was smiling fiendishly as usual.

"Hello Brother, are you ready for this ordeal?" Zeus asked hesitantly. I nodded at Hades and I could tell that my father's question amused him.

"Ah, brother I know you're not afraid of your daughter, besides I think I'll rather enjoy this." Hades said. I could tell that he was looking forward to our conversation with Aphrodite.

"I'm not afraid of her, I'd just rather have her behave and not have to deal with this kind of a mess." Zeus said sadly. Hades walked over and put his hand on my father's shoulder, it was almost like he was consoling him, weird I know.

"If you want I can do most of the talking." Hades said wickedly.

My father just shook his head. "I know you would like to, but she is my daughter, I need to deal with her, you're here because this concerns you and your son." Zeus said incredulously.

"As well as you're youngest daughter." Hades reminded him. My father nodded in acknowledgment.

"Athena, how are the two missions coming along?" Hades asked with true concern in his voice.

"Thalia and her team will start their plan in roughly forty-five minutes. I have not heard from Annabeth or the others since they left, but don't worry Percy and Annabeth will get the job done, they always do." I said.

I could see Hades processing this information and he smiled at me with a hopeful grin. "I'm sure they will, I must agree that these missions have gone smoother than I would have imagined." Hades said cautiously. Suddenly a pink cloud that smelled of a sickly sweet perfume appeared in front of us, when the cloud dissolved Aphrodite was standing in front of us.

"Hello dear father and sister. Why is he here?" Aphrodite said. I could see the fire explode in my uncle's eyes.

"Hello daughter, your uncle is here because this discussion concerns him and his family. Also, the last time I checked I seem to remember you siding with the Titans against us with your step-mother, while Hades remained loyal to Olympus." Zeus said. I could see Hades smile happily at my father's words.

"Hello sister, I also seem to remember that you as well as your conspirators were placed on probation due to your actions." I said sarcastically. Hades nodded toward me in approval.

"I'm hurt dear niece, is that anyway to talk to your loving uncle?" Hades said every word was dripping with venom. Aphrodite just looked at him turned up her nose and made a little noise that clearly meant you're not worth my time. Hades was about to yell when my father raised his hand.

"Aphrodite you really need to explain yourself before my brother decides to teach you a lesson. Why have you caused this mess?" Zeus asked curiously.

Aphrodite just smiled and said, "What mess father?"

A huge flame shot out of Hades hand as he said, "You little witch you no damn well the mess you caused."

Aphrodite looked at Hades like he just slapped her. "Father, you cannot allow this creature to talk to me that way?" Aphrodite said arrogantly. I saw lightning flash in my father's eyes.

"How dare you insult my brother in front of me and how dare you lie to me. You know exactly what you have done to Thalia and Nico. Now before I forget that you're my daughter, explain yourself." Zeus demanded.

The arrogant smile was wiped off of Aphrodite's face and she just stared at our father blankly. "Nico asked for my assistance and I helped him." Aphrodite said innocently.

"That's a load of Minotaur dung you turned him into one of your sons. He didn't ask for that, he's a completely different person now." Hades said angrily, I could see the concern in his eyes for his son. I never knew he cared that much for Nico.

"Ah, don't feign concern for your son, you've only used him as a pawn. He's no more to you than a servant or a slave." Aphrodite said accusingly. Hades exploded and turned into the epitome of the mortals vision of the devil himself. His skin was red with horns on his head. He had a forked tail and fangs that extended from his mouth. His eyes were completely red and pulsated as if they were filled with lava. Aphrodite jumped back in surprise and was visibly shaken. Zeus and I were completely surprised by this outburst, but I was actually rather happy on the inside to see my sister frozen with fright.

"I will not stand by and let anyone talk that way to me or tell me the way I treat my son. I love my boy, if I treat him rough it is because he has a tough road ahead of him, that's all." Hades said. As he finished speaking I could see the anger fade from his face and he changed his form back to his usual appearance.

Aphrodite was clearly speechless now. I could tell she was ready to run out of the throne room as fast as possible.

"Don't worry sister, you can't leave, father initiated the security protocols, no unauthorized transport from or to the throne room." I said happily. Aphrodite stared daggers at me and all I could do was smile back in return.

"Well daughter I gave you a chance to explain yourself, but as usual you chose to plead innocent to actions that we already knew you caused. Therefore, Hades and I must discuss what your punishment will be for your actions." Zeus said. I could tell that he wasn't happy about this, but Aphrodite had her chance to explain herself or even plead for mercy. Now that chance was lost and I'm afraid she will suffer for it. I suddenly thought of the two missions currently under way, I hope everything is going as planned.

_**In the next chapter we will see how Percy is doing. **_


	29. Waking Up in Vegas

Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians

Chapter 29: Waking Up in Vegas

**Percy's POV**

I hope my plan works. I walked downstairs to the casino, a waitress handed me some chips so I walked over to the roulette wheel to check out the action. I smiled broadly and acted like I didn't have a care in the world. I passed a certain lord of wild who was surrounded by three women. They clung to him as if they were glued to his side. I wonder what Juniper would do if she saw Grover like this? It's probably better if I didn't know.

"Ladies, excuse me, but I need to speak to my friend here, I'll make sure that he comes back as soon as he can." I said. I lied about that last part.

"Who are you?" Grover said. He doesn't even know who I am. I've got an idea.

"I'm from Hollywood, I think you've got a great deal of talent, can we talk?" I said, man I'm lying a lot tonight.

"You are? That's great sure let's talk, ladies I'll be back soon." Grover said. The ladies gave us both sad faces, but they bought the whole situation.

"Hurry back lover." One of the ladies said, while the others laughed. Man, if Juniper ever found out he was so dead. I moved Grover to a private part of the casino away from prying eyes.

"So tell me, are you a producer or talent scout?" Grover asked anxiously.

I didn't know exactly what I was doing, but it felt right. "Neither!" I said as I grabbed both of Grover's shoulders and before he could protest I stared into his eyes and concentrated my mind on his mind. For a moment nothing happened, but before Grover could protest I felt the real Grover in his mind trapped behind the false facade created by the Lotus. I forcibly removed the barrier caused by the Lotus using my mind, I wasn't sure how I did it, but I did. I saw Grover's eyes grow big.

"Percy, what happened?" Grover said worriedly. A large smile crept across my face.

"You were under the control of the Lotus, but I freed you." I said happily.

"How is that possible?" Grover asked.

" I have no clue, but we need to find Nico and Annabeth." I said excitedly.

"Annabeth is under the control of the Lotus?" Grover asked. I was afraid of the answer, but I suspected that she was.

"I think so." I said with concern in my voice. Grover looked at me with a worried expression, but then I could see the determination in his eyes.

"We need to act like we are under the Lotus's control, we'll find them." Grover stated confidently. The real Grover was back.

"Agreed, let's go find them." I said. We left our secluded location and searched for Nico and Annabeth. Nico and his band just finished a show about ten minutes ago, so we walked back stage, but we were careful to act like fans and not concerned friends. We found Nico's dressing room. We stopped in front of it and we could hear Nico talking to a woman in his dressing room. The voice sounded oddly familiar, but I put that feeling aside and listened to their conversation.

"Oh, Nic it so good to be able to talk to you. Your band is incredible. I love your voice, its so dreamy." The unknown woman said.

"Thank you darling, I'm always happy to talk to a fan. You know, you have the most beautiful eyes and I just love blondes." Nico or Nic said. I was almost sick how these two were flirting. It sure didn't sound like the Nico that I knew.

"Your really think so?" The unknown woman asked seductively.

"Yes, I would love to kiss you darling." Nico said. He sure doesn't beat around the bush does he?

"I thought you would never ask." The woman said. Well this woman was a slut, that's for sure.

"Perc we can't wait, we have to get him now." Grover said. I nodded, well this is going to be a short make out session I thought. I kicked open the door and the scene I saw before me shook me to my core. Nico was dressed in just a black robe and he was kissing a blonde who was wearing a very revealing red evening gown, but that wasn't the part that impacted me. The woman Nico was kissing was Annabeth.

"Annabeth, what are you doing?"I yelled as we stormed into the dressing room. I could see the shock on Grover's face. At first I could tell that Annabeth had know idea who we were and then realization dawned on her. I saw her eyes widen when she realized who we were and what we caught her doing.

"Percy, I.." Annabeth said. I could tell that she was completely freaked out. Nico on the other hand just looked mad.

"Man, I don't know who you are, but you can't just barge into my dressing room." Nico yelled. He came forward as if he was going to kick us out, but I had enough of this. The sight of Annabeth kissing Nico drove me over the edge. I lost control of my emotions and I attacked. I punched Nico square in the face and he hit the floor hard. He was unconscious, I tried to calm myself, but I was only barely able to do it.

"Percy, calm down, he's out cold." Grover said. I knew Grover could tell that I was having trouble controlling my anger.

"Percy, I'm sorry, I didn't know what I was ..." Annabeth tried to say, but I cur her off.

"I don't care." I said, lying of course. "I won't you and Grover to get Nico out of here now. I'll make sure the guards leave you alone."

"Percy, let me help you?" Annabeth asked. I looked at her and all I could visualize was her kissing Nico.

"Dammit, do what I say." I said as I ran out of the dressing room toward the casino.

My armor instantly covered my body and my helmet covered my head as I entered the casino. All of the guards charged me. A few of the guests in the casino ran toward the exits in a panic, but most just continued what they were doing. Clearly they were under the control of the Lotus. I allowed my anger to fuel my strength and my speed, but I tried to control it as best I could. It was like riding a huge wave on a surf board. Two guards ran at me with night sticks. The first guard hit my arm with the stick, but it broke in half as it hit my armor. I grabbed the first guard like a rag doll and threw him into the second guard. I heard their heads collide and then they both were lying unconscious on the floor. Two more guards came forward, one was the guard with the gun who forced me to eat the Lotus. He had a gun in his hand, I extended my shield and all of the bullets bounced off harmlessly. I charged the large guard and hit him hard in the chest with my shield. I heard several of his ribs crack with the impact. Another guard ran toward me with a stun gun, but before he could touch me I grabbed a roulette wheel from a table and threw it at him like a discuss. The wheel hit him directly in the mid-section and knocked the wind out of him. I saw Grover and Annabeth carrying Nico out of the casino. When they both saw me they almost froze, until I pointed toward the exit. They ran out the door after that. I followed behind them. Another guard ran toward me and by then my armor had already retracted back into the gauntlet and my shield had turned back into my bracelet. The guard barely grazed me with a stun gun, I felt the electricity, but I was so fueled with anger and adrenaline that I was able to punch the guard. I watched as he hit the wall behind him with a satisfying crash. I ran out of the casino. I saw our black Toyota Highlander pull in front of the casino with Annabeth driving. I opened the back door and jumped in next to the unconscious Nico. As soon as I closed the door all I could feel was exhaustion and the stun gun hit.

Before I completely passed out into blackness. I heard Grover yelling if I was alright. My last thought was that lingering image of Annabeth kissing Nico, then blackness.

_**AN: Annabeth kissing Nico! I wonder what will happen when Percy wakes up. Well, that will have to wait till another chapter. Thalia and the gangs 'work' is next.**_


	30. Thieves of Love Part 2

Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians

Chapter 30: Thieves of Love – Part 2

**Thalia's POV**

"It's time, let's get this party started." I said. I could see the excitement in the Stoll brother's eyes. Travis and Connor walked to the window of the office building, then they opened it. I could feel the cool evening air rush in through the open window. The lights of Olympus streamed through the window, but for the most part the lights did not extend above street level. Connor took out a long cylinder that looked like a bazooka, but instead I knew it was a grappling gun. He peered through the target scope and aimed for the roof of the warehouse across the street. The gun exploded and I could see and hear the grapple and a long tether streak across the street and land on the roof of the warehouse. Connor pulled on the tether until he was satisfied that it was securely attached to the roof.

"We're ready." Connor said as he motioned for Travis and I. Travis and I were both dressed in black from head to toe. We both had on large backpacks and a utility belt. We approached Connor and he hooked up the tether to our belts. Travis and I put on our ski masks and we were ready. Travis was the first to jump, I saw him streak across the street attached to the tether and then I heard him hit the gravel on the roof of the warehouse. I knew it was my turn. Connor made sure my belt was securely attached to the tether .

"Good luck, boss!" Connor said with an evil grin. I just rolled my eyes and then I jumped out the window. I know you should probably open your eyes when your doing something like this but I couldn't afford to look down. I just had to go for it before I could back out. I felt myself slide down the tether and then suddenly I hit the roof hard. The next thing I knew I felt two hands on my back.

"Got you boss." Travis said. Why did they start calling me boss all of a sudden?

"Why are you calling me boss?" I asked. Travis just looked at me and smiled.

"There may be microphones here so your code name is boss, mine is T and Connor is C, alright?" Travis said.

"Alright, but it would have been nice if you told me earlier." I said.

Travis just nodded and said, "Sorry boss."

"Alright, we're on the roof, what do we do next?" I asked.

"C analysis?" Travis asked.

"The door is wired, so you can't use it, but I did notice that the ventilation system only has a small 749B trip wire, it should be easy to subvert." Connor said. I had know idea what he was talking about.

"Thanks, C I can handle that." Travis said. Travis walked over to the large ventilation shaft cover grate. He used his flashlight to the illuminate the edges of the grate until he found a very small wire. Travis pulled out the black doctor's bag and proceeded to arrange some equipment on the ground. He slowly attached a small electronic box to the trip wire and then when he was satisfied he unscrewed the trip wire from the grate and attached it to the box. I saw him visibly sigh when he was completed. "C done, everything OK?"

"No alarms, your good to proceed inside. I would use the spiderman cups, C out." Connor said. I could tell that Travis was smiling behind his mask. He put the doctor's bag away and motioned for me to put down my backpack. Travis searched through the packs quickly until he found eight large black suction cups that were attached to some type of strap and harness system. He helped me put on my harness and then strapped a suction cup to each of my arms and legs. Then I helped Travis do the same thing to himself. Once we were ready Travis pulled off the grate and we started to crawl down the walls of the ventilation system using the suction cups like, well a spider I guess. Good thing Annabeth isn't here, I mused.

"Which way now C?" Travis asked.

"Straight down ten more feet and then to your right follow the ventilation shaft twenty feet until you see a grate facing down into the warehouse." Connor said. Travis and I followed Connor's directions until we were perched over the grate. We looked down into the grate and it extended into a small room filled with computer screens and recording equipment. It was completely automated with no security guards. Travis looked at the grate and inspected it until he was satisfied that it wasn't wired. Then he pulled off the grate and looked down into the room. He pulled off his backpack and pulled out a large section of rope that was attached to an electric pulley system. He secured the pulley system to the top of the ventilation shaft and then attached the rope to his harness.

"Boss, I'm going down there, I need to subvert the surveillance and recording system." Travis said.

"OK, what can I do?" I said.

"Here is the control for the pulley system, lower me down until I signal to stop and then raise me out of there when I'm done." Travis said. I nodded in acknowledgment.

I lowered Travis down into the room until he was only a foot from the computer and recording equipment. Travis pulled out the black doctor's bag that was attached to his belt and proceeded to pull out a black box. The box was roughly the size of a shoe box with a few wire clamps and USB cables sticking out of it. Travis proceeded to hook the box up to the computers, security cameras and recording systems. Then he flicked a switch on the top of the box. Travis signaled for me to raise him back up which I did immediately. Once Travis was back up into the ventilation shaft, he unhooked himself from the pulley and then stowed the pulley system back into his backpack. Travis replaced the grate.

"C we're ready." Travis said. I looked down into the control room and I saw the light on the black box start to flicker and then I noticed that the computer screens started to change. They were running through screen upon screen of data and it almost looked like someone was controlling them. Then the video systems started running and then I noticed that the video display flicked off and then back on in a matter of seconds.

"What just happened?" I asked. Travis just smiled.

"C happened, right?" Travis said, I could tell that last part was a question to Connor.

"Right, the cameras are now looped upon themselves so you both have free reign of the warehouse. Also, I have completely disengaged all of the security system so I would leave all the equipment and just walk out the back door. No need to climb back across the tether." Connor said. I was dumbfounded, what did they do?

"So it worked?" Travis said with surprise and happiness in his voice.

"It sure did, we completely hacked H's system. He won't be happy, but I can't help it if we're that good." Connor said arrogantly.

"Well if you two are done patting yourselves on the back can we finish the mission?" I said. Travis looked at me and smiled.

"Sure thing, boss." Travis said happily. "Take off your pack we won't be needing them now, we only need Doctor Fix-Its bag and ourselves." Travis opened the grate again and then jumped down to the floor of the control room. I took off my pack and jumped down after him. Travis slowly opened the door to the control room and we walked out into the warehouse. The warehouse was very large. The ceiling was at least twenty feet high and the walls were unpainted concrete. Box upon box were stacked on metal shelves. There were rows upon rows of shelves. Several fluorescent lights extended from the ceiling.

"Do we know where the antidote is?" I asked expectantly.

"C location of target?" Travis asked.

"Row C, section ten, third shelf." Connor said. We walked to the edge of the first row and I could see row numbers, we were currently in row D. We walked over to the next row which was clearly marked row C. We proceeded to walk down the row until we located section ten. Travis found a ladder and climbed up the shelf until he came to the third shelf. He opened a box and pulled out two pink glass bottles, marked antidote LB3. Travis climbed back down the ladder and handed the bottles to me.

"Here you go boss." Travis said. I took the bottles happily and stored them safely in a padded pocket in my black work suit.

"Let's get out of here." I said.

"Sure thing boss." Travis said as he pointed to the exit sign that would lead us out of the warehouse. We ran to the exit and froze when we were about thirty feet from the door. Standing in front of the exit were two of the ugliest and meanest looking hell-hounds that I had ever seen. Their teeth were showing and dripping with drool and their eyes glowed red in the dim light of the warehouse. None of us expected hell-hounds and so we did not bring any weapons, however I did have Aegis on my wrist. I extended Aegis from my wrist and I stood in front of Travis.

"Go back to the control room and climb out onto the roof." I said calmly.

"Boss, I can't just leave you let me help." Travis said worriedly. I didn't know he cared, it would be touching if it wasn't so stupid.

"Travis do what I say, now." I yelled. He took off running toward the control room. I ran the opposite direction with the hell-hounds on my tail. One tried to jump over me and I hit it with Aegis and knocked it into one of the shelves. All of the boxes fell onto the monster and I knew it would be only distracted for a few moments. The second hell-hound was still on my tail. I found a ladder and climbed up it and sat on the top shelf, I was about fifteen feet above the ground. By this time both hell-hounds had found me. They paced below the shelves and tried to jump up to get me. They could jump pretty high, but no where near high enough to get me. Then they did the one thing that completely surprised me. They started to knock boxes off the shelves. As the boxes hit the floor the other hell-hound would push them into place or stack them one on top of the other. I realized that they were creating stairs and a platform out of the boxes. If they kept this up it would only take a few minutes before they would be able to just walk up the boxes and get me. I had know idea what I was going to do. After all the planning and work, how could this happen? I had failed everyone.

_**AN: Well a little cliffy, after all that work to be thwarted by hell-hounds, go figure. Next chapter back to Percy and the others.**_


	31. A Tough Choice

Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians

Chapter 31: A Tough Choice

**Percy's POV**

I woke up lying on a unfamiliar bed, I was clearly in a hotel room. The walls were white and the furniture was pretty plain. The headache that plagued me throughout my time in the casino was gone and I could think clearly. I looked to my left, I could see darkness outside the window. I looked to my right, I saw a dark haired boy that was familiar, Nico. Then everything hit me; the kiss between Annabeth and Nico, the anger and rage that was fueled within me, and lastly the fight with the casino security. Then I heard the door open I closed my eyes and pretended to be asleep. I wasn't ready to face anyone yet, especially Annabeth. I heard two people walk in. I could easily recognize Annabeth and Grover's footsteps.

"Their both still asleep." Grover said. I could hear the worry in his voice. I heard them put down suit cases and bags. I guess we just checked into the hotel. A few moments later I heard both of them sit down. I could tell by their breathing that they were both exhausted.

"Grover, I feel terrible about what happened at the casino." Annabeth said. I could hear and feel the guilt and sadness in her voice.

"Annabeth it wasn't your fault, you were under the influence of the Lotus. When we broke into the dressing room you didn't even recognize us at first. By the way, how did you break the Lotus spell?" Grover said. I knew he was trying to reassure her, but he was also curious about how she broke the spell. I was curious about that as well.

"I'm not sure, you're right when I first saw you and Percy, I had know idea who you were, but then I saw the shock, sadness and anger in Percy's face and suddenly I was back. I can't explain it." Annabeth said. I could tell by the tone of her voice that she had know clue. It's definitely an unusual thing for Annabeth, I knew she didn't like it.

Grover chuckled a little under his breath.

"What's so funny goat boy?" Annabeth said angrily. I heard Grover bleat some strange noise.

"Sorry, it's just that I think I have the answer. It's just unusual for me to know something that you don't." Grover explained apologetically.

"Well, go ahead, what's the answer?" Annabeth asked. Her voice was calmer now, but I could tell that she was extremely curious.

"Well, clearly your love for Percy broke the spell when you saw how much pain he was in." Grover said. Could that be the answer? I sure hope it was.

"You think that's the answer? It doesn't make a difference now, Percy hates me. I don't blame him, it wasn't like I was kissing a stranger. I was kissing Nico of all people." Annabeth said dejectedly.

"It could have been worse, Thalia could have seen you then you'd both be dead." Grover said with amusement in his voice.

"Laugh up goat boy, you know I saw you with those sluts back at the casino. I wonder what Juniper would think of that?" Annabeth said, I could tell she probably had a fiendish grin on her face. I heard Grover choke on something, it was probably a can.

"I'm sorry please don't tell Juniper." Grover bleated hopelessly.

"It's ok Grover I won't tell her, but I need your help with Percy." Annabeth said.

"How can I help?" Grover asked curiously.

"I know he won't talk to me when he wakes up, he'll be too mad. Please tell him what I told you. I can't lose him Grover, I just can't. I love him so much, I couldn't stand to be without him. You remember how I was when he was in Atlantis." Annabeth said. I could hear her start to cry. I heard Grover walk over and I could tell that he must have given her a hug.

"Why don't you go and take a bath we had a long day today, I'm sure it will make you feel better, I'll talk to Percy." Grover said.

I heard them both separate as Annabeth stood up. "OK, thank you." Annabeth said as she walked into the bathroom and closed the door. The next thing I heard was the sound of water running. I heard Grover walk back over to his chair and sit down. I knew he was eating cans and other stuff by the sound of his munching.

I know I wasn't mad at Annabeth or Nico really. For whatever reason I lost control of my emotions at he casino and that scared the Tartarus out of me. I thought I was in control of my emotions, but with Annabeth sometimes I could lose control. I was scared of that. Until yesterday the feelings were always positive. I could have killed somebody, I could have killed Nico. I felt terrible about the way I acted. I need to maintain control until I get back to camp then I need to talk to someone about what happened. I need to avoid my emotions when I look at or talk to Annabeth. I can't afford to lose control again. I resigned myself to this fact. I opened my eyes and sat up acting like I just woke up.

"Percy, are you ok?" Grover said excitedly as I sat up on the bed.

"Hold it down Grover, I'm only ten feet from you." I said. I grabbed my temples acting like my head still hurt. I knew that would help me do what I needed to do. "My head hurts."

"Oh, sorry can I get you something?" Grover asked helpfully.

"Sure, can you get me some pain medicine?" I asked. I saw Grover rustle through one of the bags. He took out a bottle of medicine and handed me two pills with a bottle of water. I took the pills quickly then I reached down and took off my shoes. I pulled my legs back onto the bed and leaned up against the headboard with my back against a pillow.

"Do you want to talk about what happened at the casino?" Grover asked softly. I knew he was just trying to do what Annabeth asked him to do.

"Not now Grover, my head is pounding, maybe later." I said. Grover just nodded and left me alone. Ten minutes later I heard the bathroom door open and Annabeth walked out. When she saw me she smiled. My hands were over my eyes as I continued with the whole headache act. I waved to her, but I said nothing. I saw her look expectantly at Grover, but all he did was shake his head. Annabeth walked into the bathroom to finish getting ready to sleep. When she closed the bathroom door I slowly moved off of the bed. I saw that there was a balcony to this room. I opened the sliding door and walked out onto the balcony. I closed the door behind me and sat in one of the two chairs that were on the balcony. I just sat there in the darkness. I concentrated on my center and on the power within me. I searched for any sign that Perseus was still within me, but I couldn't find anything. I opened my eyes and sat there completely baffled. How could I have lost control? It makes no sense. Unless being around Annabeth caused this. I knew that she was the only one that I couldn't read emotionally. I knew that I had a harder time controlling my emotions around her. Then a sudden realization hit me and it felt like I was slammed by the Minotaur itself. I had to stay away from Annabeth. That can't be it, can it? I heard the door open behind me and I saw Grover walk out onto the balcony. He sat down on the chair next to me.

"Percy, can we talk about what happened?" Grover asked. I thought about lying again about a headache, but I needed to talk to him.

"I will if you promise not to tell Annabeth. You have to swear on the Styx." I said. I could see even in the darkness that Grover was thinking about this. He wouldn't be able to tell Annabeth what happened, but he did promise to talk to me.

"Alright, I swear on the River Styx that I will not tell Annabeth about what we say in this conversation." Grover said, I knew he left himself enough room to at least tell Annabeth that he talked to me. I was ok with that.

"What do you want to know?" I asked.

"Are you mad at Annabeth?" Grover asked nervously.

"No, I know it wasn't her fault or Nico's." I said. I could tell that made Grover feel better.

"So what's wrong then, you look upset?" Grover asked.

"I lost control of my emotions in the dressing room. I think it has to do with Annabeth." I said.

"What do you mean?" Grover said curiously. He had a worried look on his face now.

"Ever since I got back from Atlantis I've had new abilities. One is reading people's emotions. Annabeth is the only person that I can't read. Also, I have trouble controlling my emotions around her." I said. Grover just looked at me and smiled.

"Is that all, your in love with her that's all." Grover said. I knew what he was talking about.

"That's what I thought at first, but I think this is more serious than that. I totally lost control in the casino, that's the first time its happened since I came back. I was always able to maintain control even when Annabeth was around until today." I said.

Grover looked at me again with concern on his face. "Are you saying that you think it was Annabeth's presence that helped you lose control?" Grover asked. I could tell that he thought that was crazy.

"It sounds crazy to me too, but I can't think of anything else. Even though I ate the Lotus it had no effect other than this damn headache." I said. Grover just looked at me and shook his head.

"Your thinking that you need to stay away from her aren't you?" Grover accused. I couldn't look him in the face.

"Yes, that's exactly what I'm thinking." I said sadly.

"Come on Percy, there has to be another reason." Grover stated hopefully.

"I hope so, but for now I need to keep my emotions in check and that means I need to avoid her, for now." I said. Grover stood up and shook his head.

"Percy, no you can't do that. She thinks your mad at her. If you avoid her she's just going to think that your really mad at her. Your going to hurt her terribly. You need to talk to her, you need to explain yourself." Grover said angrily.

"Grover you no I can't, what if I lose control? I would hate myself if I hurt her." I said.

"So it's ok to hurt her emotionally, that's a load of crap. Your acting like a seaweed brain. Come on Percy please talk to her." Grover pleaded.

I didn't know what to do. Grover was right, but what if I lost control? "Grover, if I do this you need to be there to help if I lose it. You need to get her and Nico out of here. Promise me." I said.

"I promise Percy, you're doing the right thing." Grover said as he walked back into the room to tell Annabeth. I hope he's right, if he's not someone is going to get hurt.

_**Back to Thalia in the next chapter and we'll also find out about Aphrodite's punishment.**_


	32. Thieves of Love Part 3

Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians

Chapter 32: Thieves of Love Part 3

**Thalia's POV**

I can't believe that I failed everyone. I watched helplessly as the two hellhounds constructed a staircase of boxes. The last box was almost in place and the first hellhound was only a couple of feet from me. I held Aegis in front of me for some protection. Then I heard a noise like something flying through the air. I braced myself for the impact that never came. I looked around Aegis and all I saw was golden dust. The second hellhound charged up the staircase of boxes straight toward me and then I saw a celestial bronze arrow hit dead center within the hellhound's chest. The monster disintegrated into golden dust. I looked around, but I couldn't find where the arrow came from and then a rope fell from the ceiling and I looked up. I saw Travis hanging from a ventilation grate with a bow in his hand. He slid down the rope and landed about twenty feet from the staircase of boxes.

"Sorry boss, but I just hate when someone plays hero." Travis said sarcastically. I ran down the boxes and met Travis.

"Thank you for disobeying me." I said. I guess that surprised him because he smiled sheepishly at me. "Let's get out of here." We both ran for the exit as we went out the door we made sure to check for anyone on the outside of the warehouse.

"Don't worry its all clear." Connor's voice echoed through our earpiece. Travis and I ran to the office building and as soon as we got to the door Connor was there with the keys to the van. "Let's get out of here." We all boarded the van and Connor drove us back to the mansion. We had completed our mission in four hours. We reached the mansion in twenty minutes Theseus was waiting for us by the door.

"Congratulations, I assume you all were successful." Theseus said. I lifted the two bottles and showed him. Theseus smiled. "Thalia, the others have succeeded they have Nico at a hotel just outside of Las Vegas. I will transport you there myself.

"Stolls thank you. How does it feel to steal for a good cause?" I asked.

Connor and Travis both smiled. "It feels good." They said in unison. "You're welcome Thalia, now go save your boyfriend." Connor said.

Theseus grabbed my hand and we disappeared into a golden light.

**Athena's POV**

I walked back into the throne room after my talk with Theseus. Thalia and the Stolls succeeded. I smiled at my father and uncle as I entered the room. They both looked relieved.

"You're not going to punish me, I will make your love lives a living Tartarus. Do you hear me?" Aphrodite yelled. I never saw her face so red I thought her head might pop off her shoulders.

"Tartarus, that's a great idea Aphrodite, I'm sure your grandfather would love to see you." Hades said with an evil grin. In Hades case, his evil grins were normal this one was downright scary.

"You don't scare me uncle. How would you like Persephone to have a few more affairs?" Aphrodite threatened.

"Now Aphrodite, do not threaten your uncle's marriage." Zeus warned.

"I will threaten whomever I want. You will not stop me from conducting my godly business. It is my right as the goddess of love to work with lovers in any way I see fit." Aphrodite stated. Zeus and Hades rolled their eyes at her.

"It is not your right to impact the lives of married couples. That's my job, you harlot." A voice yelled from the back of the throne room. We all turned to see a very upset queen of the gods. Who would have guessed that Hera would be on our side.

"Hera what are you doing here?' Zeus asked calmly. Hera walked in I could tell she was still fuming from Aphrodite's threat of impacting Hades marriage. Hera sat down on her throne on the other side of my father.

"Hera, no one asked you to butt in." Aphrodite said with venom in her voice.

Hera looked at her with daggers in her eyes. "When you threaten someone's marriage you make it my business young lady." Hera said, I could tell Aphrodite was mad after the whole young lady bit.

Suddenly the door to the throne room opened and Hermes ran in. I could tell he was desperately looking for someone. When he saw Aphrodite his eyes widened.

"Aphrodite may I speak to you in private please?" Hermes asked worriedly. Aphrodite looked at him like he was insane.

"Whatever it is you can tell me in front of them." Aphrodite said, when she said them I could here the contempt in her voice. Hermes looked visibly shocked, but I could tell he was nervous as well.

"Your warehouse was broken into and the antidote you asked me to move tomorrow was stolen." Hermes said softly, but everyone heard him.

"What? I'll make sure your company is in shambles after this disgrace is made public. You will never provide security again to anyone." Aphrodite threatened.

"You won't do any such thing. Hermes you may leave son." Zeus yelled. I could tell he was finally fed up with her behavior. It's about time I thought. Hermes ran out of the throne room. "You will leave Hermes alone. You will promise on the River Styx to leave demigods, immortals, gods and goddesses alone if they are already in love. You are the goddess of love. You may help people fall in love, but you're not the goddess of drama, breakups or broken marriages. Do I make myself clear?" Aphrodite just looked at Zeus like he finally went mad.

"Or what dear father?" Aphrodite said matter-of-factly. My father's face turned red and the throne room shook with the sound of thunder. Aphrodite visibly paled at the fury in our father's eyes.

"Or my brother can send you to Tartarus for a few decades." Zeus said ominously. Hades shot a fireball into the throne room only thirty feet from Aphrodite. When the fireball extinguished standing before all of us was the guardian of the gates of the underworld Cerberus.

"Good boy, would you like to escort the pretty goddess to the pit?" Hades asked fiendishly. Aphrodite was frozen, I never saw her this scared in her life. I thought she was going to faint. She suddenly composed herself and looked at our father.

"That won't be necessary dear uncle. I swear on the Styx to leave those demigods, immortals, gods and goddesses that are in love and/or married alone." Aphrodite said her voice clearly quivering with fear. My father, uncle and stepmother both smiled in contentment.

"You may leave my dear." Zeus said. Aphrodite quickly ran out of the throne room, I couldn't help, but laugh to myself.

"Cerberus go home, boy." Hades said as a sad Cerberus disappeared into a large ball of fire.

"Let's hope the antidote works." I said. I thought about Thalia and Nico, for their sake I hoped it worked.

_**AN: Well you don't see a frightened Aphrodite that often, but a threat of Tartarus can do that to anyone, I guess.**_


	33. Arguments and Antidotes

Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians

Chapter 33: Arguments and Antidotes

**Annabeth's POV**

I heard some arguing out on the balcony when I walked out of the bathroom. Nico was still unconscious on the bed. His left eye was swollen shut where Percy had punched him. He was definitely going to have one Hades of a headache when he woke up. The door to the balcony opened and I looked up expectantly, I smiled when I saw Grover walk in.

"Grover did you talk to him?" I asked nervously. Grover just closed the door to the balcony and walked over to me. He was making me nervous.

"Annabeth, I spoke to Percy, I can't tell you what happened because he made me promise before I could talk to him. Percy wants to talk to you." Grover said. I could tell he was nervous.

"Grover is he mad at me?" I asked worriedly.

"I promised you know I can't tell you. Just go out there and talk some sense to him." Grover said anxiously. I didn't know what he meant, but I couldn't press him because of his promise. I opened the door to the balcony and walked out closing the door behind me. Percy was sitting in the dark looking out at the night sky. I could tell that he was worried about something and in turn that made me even more anxious. I sat down on the chair opposite him. He didn't say anything at first so I knew I was going to have to break the silence.

"You wanted to talk to me?" I asked nervously. Was he mad at me or was something else going on?

"Yes, I didn't want to worry you, but Grover wanted me to tell you what's going on." Percy said. I could tell that he really didn't want to tell me at least not yet. What is he hiding?

"Are you mad at me about what happened at the casino?" I asked hoping that he wasn't.

Percy just looked at me and smiled his crooked smile that always made me feel good inside. "No wise girl I'm not mad at you. I know you were under the control of the Lotus. Actually I'm worried about my actions not yours." Percy said as his smile disappeared and was replaced by a very worried expression.

"You didn't do anything wrong." I stated. By the look on his face he didn't believe me. He thought that he did something terribly wrong, I sensed.

"I lost control of my emotions, I hurt Nico and I could have hurt you or Grover. I beat up all those guards mercilessly. I could have killed them they were only doing their jobs." Percy said. Now I understood he thinks that he lost control and that he might be going against his training. "Do you remember when I told you that I could read other people's emotions?" Percy asked. I did remember him telling Thalia and me that.

"Yes, but what does that have to do with your emotions?" I asked nervously.

"I wasn't completely truthful with you. You see there is one person whose emotions I can't read." Percy said. He was staring directly at me and then I understood. He couldn't read my emotions, but why not?

"So you can't read my emotions. Why does that make a difference?" I said. I could tell that he was finding it hard to tell me something.

Percy looked really pale all of a sudden. "Annabeth this is hard to tell you, but when I'm around you I find it very hard to control my emotions. Most of the time the emotions are positive, but today they were negative, extremely so." Percy said. That's his big secret, that doesn't sound so bad.

"Percy so you have a hard time controlling your emotions around me. What's the big deal?" I asked. He's being such a seaweed brain over nothing.

"Don't you understand, I lost control today because I was near you, I would have maintained control if I wasn't. Don't you understand what I'm saying?" Percy pleaded. Then the realization hit me, the logical conclusion was there. If Percy was going to maintain his control he would have to stay away from me. He can't be seriously thinking of leaving me, can he?

"You're leaving me?" I said as tears started to well up in my eyes.

Percy lowered his eyes and wouldn't look at me. "Annabeth, I hope not. I just need to keep my distance until we're back at camp. I need to talk to Theseus and a few others. I have to figure this out. You know I don't want to leave you, right?" Percy said.

"Percy, I don't know anymore. I know I love you, but you've changed so much in the last year. It's more than just growing up, sometimes I don't recognize you. You use to be so open with your emotions, now you're so detached from them. If you think you're better off without me I need to know that. I can't keep waiting for you, it's too hard." I said as tears flowed down my face. I stood up and ran back into the hotel room.

"Annabeth come back, please I didn't mean to hurt you, please." Percy said. I could hear the emotion in his voice. I almost stopped and walked back out, but I was too upset I ran out the door of the hotel room. I ended up outside of the hotel. I sat on a bench at the edge of the pool and cried. A bright golden light appeared in front of me and when the light dissolved Theseus and Thalia were standing in front of me. I ran to Thalia when I saw her and cried on her shoulder. I explained everything that happened. Thalia was very mad at Percy, but Theseus looked concerned like he knew something like this might happen. We heard yelling coming from the third floor balcony. We looked up to see Grover yelling at Percy and then the ground started shaking around the hotel. I saw Grover run back into the hotel room, Percy was yelling at him to get away. Theseus put his arms around Thalia and I, we dissolved into the light and the next thing I knew we were back in the hotel room. Nico was still unconscious, Thalia ran to check on him.

"Grover what happened?" I yelled. Grover looked scared, he was visibly shaken.

"I yelled at Percy for upsetting you and then his eyes changed color, they were as black as the night, then Percy yelled at me to go inside. The ground started to shake. I suddenly realized why Percy was so concerned and why Theseus was concerned as well. Perseus was not gone completely. He was still inside Percy at least a little. Something had brought him back to the surface. Theseus was about to walk out to the balcony, but suddenly the sliding doors exploded sending glass all over us. We were covered in small cuts and lacerations from the glass shards. The scary part was what we saw next. Percy walked in from the balcony smiling insanely. Theseus ran to him, but was stopped in his tracks I didn't know what was happening until I saw Theseus's skin turning blue and I realized that Percy was freezing the water within Theseus's blood. I remembered what my mom had told me, even gods have water within their blood.

"Percy, please stop you're hurting him." Thalia yelled. Thalia ran to grab Theseus, but she was sent flying into a wall when Percy hit her with a surge of water vapor that he pulled from the air. Grover ran to Thalia and helped her out of the room. I grabbed Nico and pulled him out of the room as well. I heard Theseus scream and I couldn't take it anymore. I ran back into the room, Theseus looked frozen in place.

"Percy stop this now." I yelled. Theseus fell to the ground and I saw the color come back to his face.

"Percy's not here right now do you want to leave a message?" Percy said. As he laughed fiendishly at me.

"Who are you?" I asked. Percy smiled insanely and then he looked straight at me. His eyes were as black as night. When I looked into them all I could feel was emptiness and rage. It was like there wasn't a soul behind those eyes. They were lifeless, but I could feel the anger and the hate.

"Perseus!" I said. Percy or Perseus smiled at me. His smile made me sick to my stomach, but I couldn't move it was like his gaze froze me to my core. "I thought you were gone?" Perseus shook his head and laughed. His laugh was worse than anything I ever heard. I felt an arm around my waist it was Theseus he was trying to pull me out of here.

"Why are you leaving, brother?" Perseus said. Every word was dripping with hate and anger.

"You are not my brother, what are you?" Theseus yelled. I could see the rage building in Theseus's gaze.

"Ah, the right question for once. Percy thought he destroyed me with love and goodness. They can't destroy me, they can only hold me down, but something helped me rise up and take over. His anger, sadness and hurt finally became too much for the poor boy and now I'm in control finally. Ah, I didn't answer your question, did I? You all thought that I was just the dark side of Percy's psyche, you were only partially correct. Actually, I'm a combination of Percy's dark side and most importantly a fragment of another." Perseus said. What did he mean a fragment of another?

"What do you mean by a fragment?" I asked. Perseus smiled and stared directly at me and then I saw it in his eyes the black eyes glowed with a gold aura around them. I couldn't move I was frozen with fear and I could feel Theseus tense up next to me.

"We are a combination of Percy's dark psychic energy and a piece of the mind of Kronos himself. Percy never told any of you about the constant nightmares of Kronos invading his mind. Even the link that you shared with Percy never revealed this, did it Theseus? Every night for five years we would try to persuade Percy to join the Titan lord, but he always refused. We played on his emotions and his fears, but not until your link with Percy and the energy from Oranos did we have the power to finally manifest as our own psychic entity. Percy thought he destroyed us, but we were only defeated. We waited until his emotions were strong enough and he was weak enough for us to strike. The combination of the Lotus flower, the emotional turmoil in the casino, and finally the conflicting emotions of this evening, finally allowed us to overcome Percy's control and we are not giving it back." Perseus said. Percy had a piece of Kronos within him all these years and no one knew. How was that possible?

"You evil bastard, you will not destroy my brother." Theseus said. Perseus laughed at Theseus's words.

"What are you going to do about it, you're a god, but you will not hurt your twin brother. Now you truly understand the curse that is the dioscuri." Perseus said.

"Percy, please I know you're in there fight him. I'm sorry for doubting you. I love you, please fight for us." I yelled. Perseus eyes flickered to a bright glowing green color for an instant and then went black again. Percy was still there fighting against Perseus. I heard someone run in behind Theseus and me. I turned to see a wide-eyed Thalia behind us.

"What in Hades is going on?" Thalia asked.

"No time to explain Thals, hit Percy with a lightning bolt, now!" I yelled. Thalia looked at me like I was crazy, but I saw the understanding in Theseus's eyes. The stun gun had stopped the outburst at the casino maybe a bigger blast could stop it now. I saw Thalia raise her hand toward the sky, Perseus started to walk toward us, suddenly the room lit up with a tremendous light and the sound of a thousand claps of thunder echoed through the room. All the glass in the room exploded. My ears were ringing from the sound. We all looked up and standing before us were two Percys. They both opened their eyes and that's when I knew. The Percy on the left had glowing sea green eyes and the one on the right had black lifeless eyes. The one on the left had to be Percy and the other one was Perseus. At first they just stared at each other.

"I though I destroyed you." Percy said. Perseus smiled and just shook his head.

"You thought that, but a part of you knew better. That's why you were willing to leave Annabeth than let her get hurt by me. Well, you have failed you're the biggest fool of all." Perseus said. Percy just stood there I could see the pain in his eyes. They both circled each other until Perseus was facing us with his back to the destroyed window. Percy's back was towards us as he faced his evil alter ego.

"You won't get a chance to hurt anyone again." Percy yelled as he ran at Perseus at incredible speed. The two collided, but Percy's momentum was too much the two flew out the window and over the railing of the balcony. I screamed and ran to the balcony followed by Theseus and Thalia. Percy and Perseus hit the water of the pool below. All we could see were the shadows of two figures underwater. Several times water exploded out of the pool. After what seemed like hours the water calmed down and a figure crawled out of the pool. The lights surrounding the pool beamed down around the water and the figure standing below them. The figure raised his head and we all gasped. The black eyes stared at us, it was Perseus. He had won, I started to cry uncontrollably, but then I heard a scream and looked down. A hand flew out of the water and grabbed the ankle of Perseus. Before Perseus could even react I saw steam coming from his skin. It was like he was being boiled from within. Water vapor began to seep out of his pours. The skin began to erupt and blood flowed over the concrete patio surrounding the pool. Perseus's body began to dissolve and black smoke started to billow out of his dark eyes. The last sight of Perseus was a puddle of dissolved blood, bone and tissue on the concrete, then a small gold light broke free from the puddle and exploded into thin air. When the smoke and light cleared from the explosion nothing was left of Perseus except for the disgusting puddle. The arm that grabbed Perseus was suddenly met with another arm and then a figure climbed out of the pool. The figure crawled toward a dry lighted patch of concrete and collapsed. The last thing the figure did was turn over on its back and then we all saw the face of Percy. His eyes were open for a moment and I could see the beautiful green eyes that I loved. His eyes closed and he didn't move again. A sudden pang of fear filled my heart I ran out of the hotel room and headed for the pool. Theseus and Thalia followed close behind me. When we reached Percy, he was breathing calmly. At the sight of his chest rising and falling we all sighed in relief.

Theseus picked up his brother and carried him back to the hotel room. Grover was back in the room with the unconscious Nico lying on the other bed. Thalia and I walked in. We were both completely beat, but Thalia and I walked to Nico. Thalia lifted his head and took out a bottle of pink liquid and poured it into his mouth. Nico coughed for a few moments and then his eyes abruptly opened. He visibly winced and grabbed his head in pain. He looked around the room and then he saw Thalia. He smiled at her and I could tell she was relieved. Then Nico's face turned sad and he said, "Thals I'm so sorry for hurting you. I screwed up I know." Thalia put her finger on his lips.

"Well, I'm just glad that you're back. I love the real Nico not some fake, understand?" Thalia said. Nico looked at her wide eyed and then he nodded in acknowledgment. The next thing I knew they were both kissing. I left them alone and quietly walked over to Percy. Theseus and Grover were watching him.

"Is he ok?" I asked worriedly. Theseus and Grover both smiled at me.

"I think he will be better than ok." Theseus said. Grover nodded in agreement.

"Theseus you knew that Perseus was still around?" I accused. Theseus smiled and I could tell that he would ignore my accusatory tone.

"I know my brother I could tell that something constantly worried him. He was always concerned about losing control of his emotions. I think his unconscious mind was trying to protect him from Perseus." Theseus said.

"Is Perseus dead now?" I asked. Theseus smiled.

"Yes, all we have now is Perseus Jackson, the real one. Only my little brother could beat his dark side twice. I just never knew that Kronos played a role in its manifestation. I think that just makes Percy's victory even more amazing." Theseus said. I nodded in agreement.

"Grover let's go and work on fixing the damage. I think my stepdaughter would like to stay with Percy." Theseus said as he and Grover walked to the broken balcony window.

I sat down on the bed next to Percy. I leaned down and kissed him on the lips. I felt him stir under my embrace and I looked down at him. His eyes twitched a little and he yawned like he normally does in the morning. His eyes opened and he smiled at me. Then I saw his eyes widen and he jumped up in the bed.

"It's ok, your fine, we're all ok." I said. Percy relaxed and leaned against the pillow.

"He's gone?" Percy asked anxiously.

"Yes, he's gone for good." I said happily. Then I saw Percy look at me sadly.

"Annabeth, I'm so sorry that I upset you. I didn't mean to hurt you, please forgive me." Percy said.

I stared at him and faked a grim look on my face. "I don't know you hurt me really bad." I said, as I tried not to laugh. Percy just looked at me worriedly.

"Please you have to forgive me, is there anything I can do, please." Percy said, he sounded so sad and worried. He was pleading with me and I felt bad for a moment.

"Well, you could kiss me, seaweed brain." I said. I could see the sudden realization in his eyes that he had just been played. I thought he was going to say something stupid to get me mad, but instead he just leaned forward and kissed me softly. I kissed him back happily, I could feel both of us melt into the kiss. We separated a few minutes later to catch our breath. "You're forgiven." He smiled at me and I leaned my head against his shoulder and then I pulled my legs up on the bed. Percy put his arm around me and held me close. We both fell asleep in each others arms. Today was a terrible and a great day rolled into one. I had no complaints I was safe and sound in Percy's arms.

_**I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I will have at least one more chapter to wrap up this story, maybe two.**_


	34. Welcome Back

Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians

Chapter 34: Welcome Back

**Thalia's POV**

Nico and I were kissing, I hate to admit it but I missed him so much. We separated after a few minutes to catch our breath. I think the antidote worked he seems like his old self.

"So do you feel like yourself now?" I asked. Nico just smiled that fiendish grin that I knew he inherited from his father.

"I do, but what happened in here, it looks like Cerberus chewed up the place?" Nico asked as he looked around. "It must have been one Tartarus of a party, huh?" I just rolled my eyes.

"Shut up dead boy." I said incredulously. Nico just smiled at me and then he leaned close to me, I thought he was gonna kiss me again.

"Make me, pine cone head." Nico said as he jumped out of the bed and ran to the door. I chased him until I cornered him in the bathroom. I was about to knock some sense into him, but he disappeared into a shadow, that cheater. The next thing I knew I felt him kiss me on the back of the neck sending goose bumps down my arms and back.

"You know that you like it when I cheat." Nico said. I grabbed his arm and pinned him to the wall. "Hey, that's not fair Thals." I laughed and then I kissed him on the back of the neck. I heard him moan in satisfaction.

"You're not the only one who fights dirty." I said. I mentally head smacked myself for saying that. I could hear Nico chuckle to himself. "You have a dirty mind dead boy." I released him from my death grip and turned him around. He looked into my eyes with those dark brown eyes of his. I saw fire flash within them. Now this is the Nico that I love.

"Yea, you know you love me Thals." Nico said as he closed the distance and kissed me.

"You two need to get a room." Grover said scaring the Hades out of us. We both jumped back and nearly ran into the walls behind us.

"Grover, don't do that you almost gave me a heart attack." I said. I saw Grover smile at both of us.

"Well, it's good to see you two back together, even though it's rather disgusting if you ask me." Grover said. I glared daggers at him and I saw him visibly shrink before my gaze.

"No one asked your opinion goat boy." I said sharply.

Thalia, Nico and Grover stop fooling around and get out here." Theseus yelled from the hotel room. I heard Grover laugh at the mention of the words 'fooling around.' I smacked him on the back of the head as we walked out of the bathroom.

"That hurt Thals." Grover said as we walked out to meet Theseus and the others.

When we entered the main portion of the hotel room I saw Theseus standing by the balcony doors waiting for us. Percy and Annabeth were sitting on the edge of the bed holding hands and talking.

"What's up?" I asked. I could see the anxious look on Theseus's face. Percy and Annabeth were too engrossed in each others presence to really pay attention to us.

"Thalia, we need to get back to camp. I have already contacted Hermes, he will take care of the car and the repairs to the hotel room. He will also make sure that Percy and Annabeth's bags get back to camp. I will transport Percy and Annabeth. Nico can you take Thalia?" Theseus said.

"Yes, what about Grover?" Nico asked.

Grover cleared his throat and said, "I have some more work to do in California, so I will be going there." Percy and Annabeth stood up and walked over to Grover, they hugged him and then said their goodbyes. Nico and I both hugged Grover as well.

"Stay safe goat boy." I said. Grover just smiled at me.

"Keep the dead boy out of trouble Thals." Grover said as he walked out of the hotel room.

Percy walked over to Nico, I wasn't sure why, but Nico looked really nervous. "Sorry about your eye, can I heal that for you." Percy said sincerely. Nico looked at Percy wide eyed.

"You're not mad at me for what happened?" Nico said. What happened?

"Of course not, I know you were under the influence of the two spells. Let's get you fixed up." Percy said as he led Nico into the bathroom. I was totally baffled now. I walked over to Annabeth to see what I could find out.

"What are those two talking about?" I asked as I pointed toward Nico and Percy.

Annabeth's face paled and I could tell that she was very nervous. "Well, Nico was under the influence of the Lotus flower as well as Aphrodite's spell." Annabeth said. By the look on her face I knew there was more to it.

"What else happened?" I asked anxiously.

Annabeth wouldn't look me in the face, but then she straightened up and looked at me. I guess she finally composed herself long enough to talk. "I was under the influence of the Lotus too. Percy and Grover found Nico and me together in the casino. We were kinda kissing each other." Annabeth said. Her voice trailed off toward the end, but I heard what she said. Annabeth and Nico kissed each other. I didn't know who I should kill first. "Percy saw us and when I saw him the Lotus spell was broken, but Nico was still under the spell. He kind of made a big deal about them barging in on us and Percy punched him." Annabeth said. Her face was completely pale and I could tell she was ashamed and sorry.

"What in Hades were you two thinking? How come of all the people in the casino you two found each other to start sucking face?" I asked angrily. Annabeth was a little taken aback by my anger. I saw Theseus walk across the room toward us to make sure that a fight didn't start. I put my hands up to signal that I wasn't going to hit anyone, at least not yet. "Percy just acted like nothing happened. Why isn't he mad?"

"He was at the casino, but I guess he figured out that we were under the Lotus spell. Besides, he had some emotional issues as you saw earlier." Annabeth said. I laughed at that.

"Yea, he had a crazed psychic being living inside him. I'd say that's an emotional issue. I don't know if I can dismiss that so easily. My best friend and my boyfriend kissed each other, it's crazy." I yelled. Just then Percy and Nico walked out. Nico's face was completely healed, but Nico didn't look happy. I guess he heard me in the other room.

"Thals, don't blame Annabeth. You know we had no idea what we were doing." Nico said trying to reassure me. He's right, I did know that, but it kind of made me a little jealous I had no idea why? Annabeth loved Percy and there was no way she would intentionally kiss Nico. He was like a little brother to her.

"Thalia, they're right. Listen to them we've had enough conflict for today." Theseus said. I could tell he was looking at Percy when he said that.

"Beside Thals, I already knocked him out once." Percy said sarcastically. I looked at Percy and then I smiled.

"I guess he deserved it." I said. Nico just folded his arms in front of him and looked at both of us angrily.

"Yea, make fun of the guy that was under two spells." Nico said.

"Thalia, you should have seen him. He had a band at the casino called the Hellhounds and he was the lead singer." Percy said. I could tell he was holding back his laughter.

"Dead boy was singing lead in a band? Ah, that had to be priceless." I said smiling wildly. Percy and Annabeth started to laugh.

"Hey, I thought we were pretty good." Nico said defensively. We all started to laugh at him. He looked at us with fire in his eyes.

"Dead boy, it's alright, don't get mad." I said. I forgot all about being angry. I was just happy to be with all of my dear friends. Theseus cleared his throat and we all turned toward him.

"Well, if you all are done with your friendly antics, I would like to get back to camp." Theseus said with an amused look on his face.

"Yes, sir!" We all said in unison. Percy and Annabeth walked to Theseus. The next thing I knew they disappeared into a golden light. Nico walked over to me and put his arm around my waist.

"Besides, kissing Annabeth was no where near as good as kissing you. It was like kissing my sister." Nico said, with a wry smile on his face.

I looked at him and smiled fiendishly. "So you kissed Bianca that way before." I said. Nico froze and looked at me. I saw his face turn a bright red. I reached up and kissed him on the lips until the color drained out of his cheeks. "Let's go, lover boy." Nico grabbed my hand and we ran into the shadows.

_Camp Half Blood_

**Percy's POV**

Theseus, Annabeth and me materialized in the kitchen of the big house. Chiron and Mr. D were playing their usual game of pinochle, Chiron winning as usual. They both stopped the game when they saw us. "Theseus welcome back. I see that you've retrieved our young heroes." Chiron said.

"Yes, welcome back. I take it that your mission went well." Mr. D said.

"Yes, it was an interesting mission. I take it everything is quiet here?" Theseus said. Chiron looked up and smiled.

"Well, Travis and Connor came back yesterday and the first thing they did was pull a couple pranks on the Ares and Demeter cabins, but nothing Mr. D and I couldn't handle." Chiron said. Chiron would never admit it, but I knew he missed some of the Stoll brother's antics, well maybe just a little.

"How long are they on kitchen duty for?" Theseus asked with a smile.

"He gave them KP for the rest of the summer." Mr. D said with amusement in his voice as he gestured toward Chiron.

"That's seems a little harsh, doesn't it?" Theseus asked. Mr. D started to laugh.

"You haven't seen the Ares and Demeter cabins yet." Chiron said clearly not amused.

"Well, I think our heroes deserve a beach party, so Dionysus, please make the plans ready. Please assign all the campers that you need." Theseus said. A huge smile extended across Mr. D's face.

"Remember no alcohol." Chiron added. Mr. D just glared at him.

"You're no fun do you know that?" Mr. D said.

Chiron smiled and said, "I know, you keep reminding me." Theseus smiled at their antics, he led Annabeth and me out of the big house.

"Percy, can we talk." Theseus said. I knew he wanted to talk about my final battle with Perseus. Theseus looked over at Annabeth, I could tell that she wanted to join us. I nodded toward Theseus and he smiled. "Annabeth, do you want to join us?"

Annabeth smiled and said, "Yes, if it's ok?" I nodded as the three of us walked to the mess hall. Lunch had ended an hour ago so we would be the only ones there.

We sat down at the Poseidon table and we were quiet for a few moments. "How do you feel now?" Theseus asked curiously. They both looked at me and I could see the concern on their faces.

"Relax, I feel great." I said. They both sighed and I could tell that a large weight seemed to be lifted off their shoulders.

"You know, I could tell by the way you were acting that something was wrong." Theseus stated. I should have known that I couldn't hide anything from him. Even without our link we are twins after all.

"Well, it wasn't like I knew Perseus was there. I had a bad feeling, but when I searched my mind I was never able to find him." I said.

"I understand, but you should have told me or Annabeth. We could have tried to help." Theseus said.

"I know, but I thought I was just being paranoid. I also didn't want to worry anyone else. You're right I should have said something, I'm sorry." I said. I truly meant that, I have friends and family who care about me and I should have been more open about my fears.

"So that's why you were always on edge and why you closed yourself off sometimes?" Annabeth asked. I knew that I hurt her, I didn't know how much until our argument at the hotel.

"Yes, I didn't want to talk about it and for some reason I thought holding down my emotions would help, but I was wrong. I'm sorry that I hurt you wise girl." I said. Annabeth smiled at me and held my hand.

"Just don't let it happen again." Annabeth warned with a smile.

"I promise." I said. Theseus looked at the two of us and smiled.

"Well, Percy what about your new abilities?" Theseus asked. Theseus and Annabeth both stared at me, I knew they were both very interested.

"Alright, I knew you two would wonder about that. Well, don't worry I can't read emotions anymore. That was the first thing I noticed. My photographic memory and visual analysis skills are still there. I still have my heightened senses such as hearing, eye sight, touch, smell and my sixth sense. Other than that I'm pretty much the same old Percy." I said. I saw them both visually counting my new abilities.

"What is this sixth sense ability?" Annabeth said. I knew by the look on Theseus's face that he knew.

"How about I show you?" I asked.

"OK" Annabeth said hesitantly. I stood up and walked to the other side of the mess hall.

"Alright, throw that salt shaker at me as hard as you can." I said with my eyes closed.

"What, you can't see me?" Annabeth said.

"Go ahead its ok." I said. I opened my mind and I could see a weird outline of the room using sound. It was like my own personal radar. I felt the saltshaker fly strait towards my head and an instant before it hit me I caught it with my left hand.

"That's incredible. Does it work in other ways?" Annabeth asked.

I opened my eyes and walked back over to the table and sat down across from Theseus and Annabeth. I placed the salt shaker back on the table. "Well it works like radar on dry land and like sonar when I'm underwater." I said. Theseus smiled, I knew he was well aware of this power. I knew Triton and our father had told him.

"That's so cool." Annabeth said.

I felt a strange tingling sensation, I never felt before. Theseus and Annabeth both saw my surprised face. "What is it Percy?" Theseus asked.

"Well I think someone's about to arrive." I said. An instant later a golden light appeared in the mess hall and when it dissolved Athena was standing before us. Annabeth ran to her mom and hugged her. I walked over to her and Athena hugged me as well. Theseus put his arm around her and we all sat down at the table.

"Well, Percy that's a pretty impressive new ability." Theseus said.

"What new ability?" Athena asked. I knew she couldn't handle the curiosity just like Annabeth.

"Well I was able to feel your teleportation." I said. Athena raised an eyebrow.

"Really, what did it feel like?" Athena asked.

"Well, the first thing I felt was a tingling sensation from the energy involved. Then I felt the intelligence behind the energy kind of like when you sense that someone is watching you and then I felt the movement of the air in the room right before you appeared." I said. It was a very strange sensation.

"I heard about the incident at the hotel." Athena said as she looked at Theseus.

"Yes, I Iris messaged Athena last night after the incident. Annabeth and I were just discussing the incident with Percy." Theseus said.

"Percy, do you feel alright now?" Athena asked. I knew I already covered that, but I'm sure it wouldn't be the last time I talked about it today.

"Actually I feel great. I don't remember the last time I felt this well." I said.

"Does that have anything to do with nightmares about a certain Titan lord?" Annabeth asked. I knew she was talking about the nightmares for the five years leading up to the Battle of Manhattan.

"I am sorry I didn't tell anyone, but you have to understand I was twelve when I first started having them, that was before I was friends with you or anyone else for that matter. I became use to them. I even had some after the battle, but I just thought that was Kronos trying to get back at me after the war." I said. Everyone looked shocked.

"You had dreams with Kronos taunting and tempting you every night for five years straight and you got use to them." Athena asked. She almost sounded like she was in awe of that realization.

"Yes, I guess that's why I was always tired during the war." I said.

"Percy it's incredible that you didn't join him or go crazy. You're mind is stronger than any person I've ever met." Theseus said.

"Well, I was a seaweed brain during that entire time." I said. I could see Annabeth thinking about that.

"You were always so distracted all the time when we were younger, I just assumed it was the ADHD and your lack of concentration, but it was the nightmares and the lack of sleep wasn't it?" Annabeth asked concerned.

"I never really thought about that, but it does make sense now." I said. The others just shook their heads in amazement.

"Let's drop all the compliments we wouldn't want his head to swell." Annabeth said as she punched me in the shoulder.

"Thanks, so can we talk about something that doesn't revolve around me?" I asked happily. Everyone smiled at me.

"How are Thalia and Nico?" Athena asked.

"They're doing pretty well. I think they're back to being a couple now." Annabeth said.

"Good, Thalia worked hard to get that antidote for him. I hope he appreciates her." Athena said.

"I think he does, actually he seemed very sorry for getting this mess started." I said.

"Well, I'm glad this mess is over with. We can get back to normal camp activities. Annabeth are you ready to start teaching ancient Greek and battle strategy classes?" Theseus asked.

"I sure am, it will be great to get back to teaching. It's a lot of fun." Annabeth said happily.

"Percy, I take it that you'll be back to teaching swordsmanship and sailing, right?" Theseus asked.

"Of course, I can finally start teaching sailing. I think everyone will enjoy that. Well everyone except for Thalia and Nico." I said. Athena and Theseus both looked at me questioningly.

"Why is that?" Athena asked. Annabeth and I started to laugh.

"They both have the worst sea sickness that I've ever seen. When we sailed to Maine it was like being onboard with two sick sea lions." I said sarcastically. We all started to laugh at that.

"Funny kelp head." Thalia said as she and Nico walked into the mess hall.

"I thought it was pine cone face." I said matter-of-factly. Thalia and Nico both greeted Athena.

"It's good to have you back to normal Nico." Athena said. Nico smiled that son of Hades grin, but this one was at least sincere.

"I'm glad to be back." Nico said. He didn't look very happy he just looked like the real Nico for a change. Thalia looped her arm through Nico's arm and his gloomy demeanor brightened to an almost normal teenage level.

"Well, Athena and I need to leave for Olympus. You four take care we'll see you at the party tomorrow night." Theseus said. We all waved goodbye as the two gods disappeared into a golden light.

"What are we going to do now?" Annabeth asked curiously. I smiled and everyone looked at me.

"Nico and I need to talk, you two don't mind if we leave you both here for a little while, we won't be long." I said.

"I guess not, but don't make us wait too long Thalia and I are not the most patient women." Annabeth said. I could see Thalia nod in agreement. Nico and I walked out the door and headed for my cabin. We had some planning to do for the party tomorrow. As we walked my enhanced hearing picked up Annabeth's voice, " I wonder what those two are up to?" Well she'll find out tomorrow night.

As Nico and I walked out of the mess hall towards my cabin we noticed the Ares and Demeter cabins, we couldn't help, but laugh hysterically. The Ares cabin had been painted hot pink and the roof was adorned with large bright red hearts. On the door to the cabin painted in bright red letters was the words Ares Fairies. Then we looked over at the Demeter cabin and instead of the normal lush trees and shrubs on the outside, they had been trimmed into the shapes of hell-hounds and one large shrub had been trimmed to look like Cerberus with a large bone. The cabin was painted black with white skeletons painted on the walls. The roof of the cabin was painted blood red with black letters that said Hades Rules and Persephone loves the Styx. Nico was laughing so hard I thought he might wet himself. I never heard the kid laugh so hard. We finally made it to my cabin so we could plan for the party tomorrow this was going to be fun.

_**Hope you enjoyed this fluffy chapter. The last chapter is aptly entitled, "Beach Party"**_


	35. Beach Party

Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians

Chapter 35: Beach Party

**Annabeth's POV**

I finished my morning class on ancient Greek. I heard the lunch bell ring, so I made my way to the mess hall. The good thing about being a counselor is that you teach, but you can set your own training schedule. I entered the mess hall and took a seat with the other counselors at the main table with Chiron and Mr. D. Clarisse and Chris were already there, but I didn't see Percy yet.

"It's good to see both of you." I said to Clarisse and Chris. Clarisse just grunted and waved her hand.

"We're all glad that you and Percy made it back safe." Chris said as he elbowed Clarisse.

"Ah, yes glad to have you back, where's Prissy?" Clarisse said sarcastically. I glared at her, but then I saw Percy enter the mess hall he had a bright smile on his face as he approached the table. I guess he had a good morning training the campers how to sword fight.

"Morning seaweed brain" I said with a smile.

"It was a great morning wasn't it?" Percy asked. Everyone just smiled at him and nodded in agreement, everyone except Clarisse.

"What's so great about it?" Clarisse asked incredulously.

Percy looked at her and gave her a snide smirk I was barely able to control my laughter. "Well Clarisse aren't you a morning ray of sunshine?" Percy asked facetiously. Clarisse was about to stand up and do something rash, but Chris placed his hand on her shoulder. "Don't get upset Clarisse, we all know that you're a morning person." I saw Percy smile that crooked smile that I loved it even made Clarisse shake her head in defeat.

We finished our lunch and then Chiron asked, "Percy I hear that you're going to college in September."

"Yes, sir I've been accepted into SUNY Maritime school in the city. I'm really looking forward to it." Percy said happily. I'm so proud of him, I knew he wished he could have started last year, but he would just have to make up for lost time.

"Mr. D how is the plan for the party tonight?" I asked curiously. Mr. D put down his video game I bet he was playing Pac-man again.

"The plans are set and my helpers will be working hard this afternoon to get the beach organized and prepared. We're all going to have a lot of fun." Mr. D said. He winked at Percy when he finished talking. I wonder what that was for. I noticed Nico and Will Solace walk over to our table.

"Hey, guys do you need something?" Percy asked.

"Yes, Percy could you help Nico and I work on a specific sword fighting move? We've been having a hard time mastering it." Will asked hopefully.

"Sure, excuse me everyone, bye wise girl." Percy said as he kissed me on the cheek. Percy, Will and Nico walked out of the mess hall towards the training facility. Everyone else left a few minutes later, but before I could leave Thalia walked over to me.

"Hey Thals, what's up?" I asked.

"Have you seen Nico?" Thalia asked.

"Yea, he left with Percy and Will they were going to the training center." I said. Thalia made an annoyed groan. "What's wrong?"

"I was just at the training center, none of them are there." Thalia said.

"Well, maybe their practicing somewhere else or they finished early." I asserted.

"They haven't been gone that long. Where else would they have gone to train, but the training center?" Thalia countered. She had a point, their up to something, I thought.

"Their up to something, aren't they?" I asked.

"I think so Nico was acting a little unusual when he came back from Percy's cabin yesterday. He's hiding something. I know it." Thalia stated. I could tell she was angry.

"It must be a surprise, I can't believe if something was wrong that he would hide it from you considering all the problems you both had this summer." I said rationally.

Thalia sighed and I could tell she tried not to worry. "You're right, I should trust him, he did promise me no more secrets, maybe he is preparing a surprise for me and he's worried that I'll think that he's breaking his promise." Thalia said.

"That's probably right Nico wouldn't hide anything from you if it wasn't something good, like a surprise." I said reassuringly. Thalia forced a smile and I could tell that she was trying to set aside her anxiety.

"So, how are things with Percy?" Thalia said as she smiled mischievously at me. She can be such a pain sometimes.

"Things are going great, since the incident at the hotel, he's been the same old Percy. He's been so happy and care free, he just makes me feel good." I said. Thalia just smiled and sighed at me. "What?" I was getting annoyed now.

"Nothing, well you're just head over heals for him aren't you?" Thalia said with a smirk on her face.

"Of course I love him completely." I stated simply. Thalia just smiled and then she punched me in the shoulder. "That hurt, what was that for?"

"You're being such a sappy Aphrodite girl now." Thalia said as she started to laugh at me.

"Well at least I'm not being a stuck up and nasty daughter of Ares." I said as I stood up and was getting ready to walk away.

"Annabeth I'm sorry I was just joking with you, don't get mad." Thalia pleaded.

"Some joke Thals, especially after everything that Percy and I did to help get Nico back." I said. Thalia just looked down at her feet.

"I'm sorry Annie, thank you so much for helping us." Thalia said sincerely.

I put away my anger it really wasn't worth all the trouble. "You're forgiven and you're welcome." I said plainly. I hugged Thalia and we separated. "Hey I've got a class to teach I'll meet you at my cabin in two hours so we can go to the beach party, alright?"

"Sounds good I'll see you then." Thalia said as I walked out of the mess hall and headed for my class on battle strategy.

_Two Hours Later – Athena Cabin_

I was standing outside of the Athena cabin, I was dressed in my orange camp t-shirt and I had my stone washed jean shorts on with a pair of leather sandals that Percy gave me. They were made by craftsmen in Atlantis. They were made of brown leather with pink, gray and blue sea shells on them. They were incredibly comfortable. I waited outside for only a few minutes when I heard someone walking toward me, running actually. I looked around to see Thalia wearing a black tank top and black shorts. She had black sandals on that had a gold lightning bolt on the side.

"Hey Annie are you ready?" Thalia asked.

"Sure, let's go and see what Mr. D did to the beach." I said. We both walked side by side through camp and headed for the big house. The camp looked pretty deserted so we assumed everyone was at the beach already. When reached the top of the hill just passed the big house we saw the beach and then the beautiful Atlantic Ocean beyond it. The water was an incredible greenish blue that was almost as beautiful as Percy's eyes. We were frozen by what we saw on the beach. You could plainly sea the large dry dock and the pier that extended out into the ocean. The two large sailing ships that Percy designed were docked at the pier and they gleamed in the late afternoon sunlight. There were three very large piles of wood on the beach that were clearly ready to be set on fire for the evening bonfires. The incredible part was the large picnic tables that were arranged in a horseshoe formation. They could easily sit twenty to fifty people and each one had a design on them that identified their patron god or goddess. I could make out the trident and the owl on two tables that were next to each other. They were the closest tables to the dry dock. All of the tables appeared to be constructed out of black lava stone. It looked like they came straight out of the mid-oceanic ridge itself. At the end of the opening of the horseshoe were the grill and fire pits that would be used to cook dinner for the party. Passed the cooking area was a large stage it faced the tables perfectly and would most likely be used for the evening entertainment. Behind the stage and extending down the beach were beach chairs and folded sets of towels, these were clearly for use by the campers. I guess we did have about four hours of light before it got dark. I didn't see any campers then I heard a noise from behind us. Thalia and I turned to see Percy, Nico and Mr. D standing behind us smiling.

"Surprise we wanted you to be the first to see our new and permanent beach facilities." Percy said. Permanent facilities!

"You mean all of this is a permanent facility?" I asked.

Mr. D smiled and walked forward a few steps. "It was Percy's idea considering we already had the dry dock and pier it only made sense to make the camp have a permanent presence on the beach. As you can see we even have two life guard towers." Mr. D said as he pointed at the two wooden towers that were painted white, I had missed those in my first view of the facilities.

"It's incredible!" Thalia and I said in unison.

"We're all glad you like it. Now everybody have fun!" Nico yelled as hordes of camper ran down the hill toward the beach. Thalia and I were smiling and laughing as we watched all of the 'happy' campers run down the hill to the beach. Nico ran forward and grabbed Thalia's hand and dragged her down the hill they both ran to the beach until they fell into the sand. Thalia landing on top of Nico and I could tell both of them were blushing and laughing excitedly.

Mr. D disappeared in purple mist and appeared near the food preparation area, I saw him directing campers in the preparation of the food, two campers in particular the Stoll brothers, who were still on kitchen duty. None of us had been able to figure out how those two had redecorated the outside of the Demeter and Ares cabins, neither one of them would divulge anything. They didn't look very happy as Mr. D ordered them around.

Percy walked down the hill and wrapped his arms around my waist and then he kissed me on the neck. I felt electricity run down my neck to my shoulders and down my arms.

"Let's go have some fun, shall we?" Percy whispered softly in my ear making goose bumps stand up on my neck and arms. I immediately slid out from under his arms and ran down the hill toward the beach.

"Catch me if you can seaweed brain." I said. I could hear Percy laugh and then I knew he was right on my tail. We reached the sand and as soon as Percy caught up to me I turned and jumped on him sending him tumbling into the sand. I ended up lying on top of him with my hands on his chest. I felt the muscles of his chest and I smiled in delight. Percy sat up and held me in his arms and then he reached up and kissed me. We both melted into the kiss until someone yelled at us to get a room. We both separated to see my brother Malcolm sitting on top of one of the life guard towers. He was dressed in red swim trunks and he had a red jacket that said life guard on the front. Percy and I both stood up and looked at Malcolm.

Percy smiled and said sarcastically, "Yes sir!" Then he gave Malcolm a two fingered salute. Malcolm started to laugh and then he pointed to a surf board sticking out of the ground. Percy looked into my eyes. "Do you mind my love?" I just smiled because he called me his love.

"Go ahead seaweed brain!" I said happily. Percy kissed me on the cheek and then he grabbed his surf board and ran into the ocean. He appeared a few moments later and everyone was watching him to see what he would do because the waves were very small today. Percy swam out into the ocean at an incredible speed I just watched until I could barely see him on the horizon. Then all of a sudden a twenty foot wave appeared behind him and my eyes grew big in surprise. The wave picked him up Percy surfed up and down the wave until the wave came closer to shore. The wave closed over itself to create tunnel of water, Percy surfed threw the tunnel and then exploded out of the wave. He landed in the water about twenty feet from shore. He ran back onto the beach smiling wildly. I don't ever remember Percy looking this happy in a very long time. He ran up to me and I knew I was smiling madly. He stopped in front of me he was completely dry of course. He gave me a big hug that picked me up off the ground we were face to face only inches from each other. I couldn't take it anymore so I leaned forward and kissed him passionately. After about five minutes we separated and Percy lowered my feet back to the ground. We both walked back to the sand and sat on a beach towel that I had spread out when he was surfing.

"Have fun?" I asked. Percy smiled at me with amusement in his eyes.

"Yea, the kiss was great." Percy said.

"I meant the surfing seaweed brain." I said as my cheeks turned red.

"That was alright I guess." Percy said with a smirk.

We both sat on the beach watching people play volleyball on the beach, swim in the ocean or surf. Everyone was having a lot of fun. Then Percy stiffened a little and then he stood up and turned around. I didn't know what he was doing so I stood up as well. Before I could ask him several bright lights appeared in front of us. When all of the light dissolved standing in front of us was the Olympian Council of twelve. All the gods were smiling at us and then Zeus said, "Now everyone have fun, once Dionysus signals that the food is ready I expect everyone to be at their respective tables." All of the other gods nodded in acknowledgement. Theseus and Athena walked down to where Percy and I were standing. We all hugged each other. This was a great surprise, but I had a feeling that Percy knew all about this.

I looked at my mom and Theseus, they were both smiling at me. "Why do I have the sneaking suspicion that Percy was behind this?" I asked. My mom and Theseus started to laugh.

"Well you're the wise girl for a reason, yea it was my idea." Percy said happily. "Theseus let's go surfing, that's if the ladies don't mind?" Percy asked. Athena and both looked at them and rolled our eyes.

"I don't mind, it gives me an opportunity to talk with Annabeth." Athena said.

"Go ahead I wouldn't want to hold up the brotherly bonding." I said sarcastically. Theseus and Percy both smiled they each grabbed a surf board and ran for the water. My mom and I just laughed at their antics. They were both acting like two young children playing in the water. It was actually great to see both of them having fun.

"Ladies I see that both of you enjoy my two boys acting like kids." Poseidon said as he walked up to both of us.

"Yes, Lord Poseidon." I said formally. Poseidon just looked at me and then he smiled as he gave a knowing wink to my mom.

"Annabeth, you know I want my family to call me dad or Poseidon, none of this lord stuff, alright?" Poseidon said with a smile that reminded me so much of Percy.

"Yes, Poseidon." I said happily. Poseidon gave me a hug and then he kissed my mom on her cheek.

"If you'll excuse me, I'll have to teach these two youngsters how it really is done." Poseidon said as he ran toward the water, a bright green surf board suddenly appearing under his arm. He ran into the water and flew toward Percy and Theseus. They were both smiling as he joined them.

"Well, I guess all three of them are big kids." Athena said as she laughed at her father-in-law. This was really a great day, so far. "So are you and Percy getting along alright?" My mom smiled knowingly at me.

"Of course, but he does seem much happier and care free now. He's the old Percy just grown up, if that makes sense." I said trying to read my mother's expression.

She looked at me and I could tell she was thinking about my comment. "He loves you a great deal you know." Athena said. I could tell she was being very thoughtful and I also knew she was very happy for me.

"I know mom, he makes me so happy. I don't know what I would do without him." I said sincerely. My mom put her arm around my shoulder and pulled me into a hug.

"I'm very proud of you Annabeth, I hope you know that." Athena said.

"I do, I just want to be as happy as you and Theseus." I said. My mom just smiled and kissed me on the cheek.

"I think you and Percy are well on your way there." Athena stated. A clap of thunder extended across the sky and everyone stopped what they were doing and looked toward Zeus.

"Attention gods, immortals and heroes dinner is ready." Zeus said as his voice reverberated across the beach. My mom and I walked to her table and sat down with my brothers and sisters. I saw Percy, Theseus and Poseidon walk to the Poseidon table. When everyone was seated Dionysus walked to the front of the food line.

"Everyone thank you for coming to our first party of the summer. I would like to thank all those that helped put this party together. As camp recreation coordinator I want to wish that everyone have fun this evening. Cabins will be allowed to come up in cabin number order. After dinner we will have some special entertainment plus we have three bonfires setup as well, thank you." Mr. D stated. Thalia and her father started the food line followed by Hera and so on. Percy smiled at me as we passed each other in line. I watched as he walked back to his table. He was talking to Theseus intently they were planning something I thought. By the time everyone finished dinner it was dark out. I saw Chiron and Mr. D lighting the bonfires with assistance from the Apollo cabin. After dinner my mom and I searched for Theseus and Percy to no avail.

"Where are they?" I asked.

"Not sure." Athena said. I could tell that she didn't know, but I also knew that she expected they were up to something. Then we saw lights turn on above the stage. The stage curtain was closed and Chiron walked up onto the stage. He had a microphone in his hand.

"Gods, goddesses, immortals and heroes I have a special announcement. We have special entertainment setup tonight. We have a DJ with music, but more importantly the Olympians will be performing tonight. So with no further to do, here are the Olympians." Chiron stated. The curtain opened and standing on the stage were Theseus with his guitar, Percy with his guitar, Apollo at the synthesizer, Will Solace at the another guitar, Hermes behind he drums, and Nico at the keyboard. So that was the other part fo the surprise, Nico and Will had joined the Olympians. I heard footsteps behind my mom and I. We turned around to see a smiling, but completely surprised Thalia.

"I didn't know he played the keyboard." Thalia said with surprise in her voice and an expression on her face that made me laugh. I noticed that everyone had a microphone, so everyone would sing at least backup.

"Thank you everyone, we're so glad to be here. As you can see we have added two new band members, Nico Di Angelo son of Lord Hades on keyboard and Will Solace son of Lord Apollo on guitar. Our first song is a new one that we have not played before, therefore we are letting one of our new band mates sing it." Theseus announced. The music started and I knew instantly that it was "The Reason" by Hoobastank and I knew exactly who was going to sing. Nico started to sing and his voice was different than what I remembered at the casino. He had a soft and melodic voice. He sang the lyrics very well.

_I'm not a perfect person_

_There's many things I wish I didn't do_

_But I continue learning_

_I never meant to do those things to you_

_And so I have to say before I go_

_That I just want you to know_

_I've found out a reason for me_

_To change who I used to be_

_A reason to start over new_

_and the reason is you_

_I'm sorry that I hurt you_

_It's something I must live with everyday_

_And all the pain I put you through_

_I wish that I could take it all away_

_And be the one who catches all your tears_

_Thats why i need you to hear_

_I've found out a reason for me_

_To change who I used to be_

_A reason to start over new_

_and the reason is You_

_and the reason is You_

_I'm not a perfect person_

_I never meant to do those things to you_

_And so I have to say before I go_

_That I just want you to know_

_I've found out a reason for me_

_To change who I used to be_

_A reason to start over new_

_and the reason is you_

_I've found a reason to show_

_A side of me you didn't know_

_A reason for all that I do_

_And the reason is you _

When they finished playing I saw the tears in Thalia's eyes. My mom and I both wrapped and arm around her. I knew she loved Nico and I saw Zeus look at her and smile. Thalia smiled back at him, we all knew now that Zeus was ok with her and Nico. Lord Hades also looked happy for once and very proud of his son. The Olympians played four more songs that they played before and they were better than ever with the new additions. "Alright we have one more song for you tonight and it is a new one. My little brother will be singing this one and I just want to let everyone know how proud I am of him." Theseus said as he turned and smiled at Percy. The music started and I knew the song, it was "Chances" by Five for Fighting.

_Chances are when said and done_

_Who'll be the lucky ones_

_Who make it all the way?_

_Though you say I could be your answer_

_Nothing lasts forever_

_No matter how it feels today_

_Chances are we´ll find a new equation_

_Chances roll away from me_

_Chances are all they hope to be_

_Don't get me wrong I'd never say never_

_Cause though love can change the weather_

_No act of God can pull me away from you_

_I´m just a realistic man_

_A bottle filled with shells and sand_

_Afraid to love beyond what I can lose when it comes to you_

_And though I see us through yeah_

_Chances are we´ll find two destinations_

_Chances roll away from me_

_Still chances are more than expectations_

_The possibilities_

_Over me_

_Eight to five, two to one_

_Lay your money on the sun_

_until you crash what have you done?_

_Is there a better bet than love?_

_What you are is what you breathe_

_You gotta cry before you sing_

_Chances chances_

_Chances lost are hopes torn up pages_

_Maybe this time_

_Chances are we´ll be the combination_

_Chances come and carry me_

_Chances are waiting to be taken_

_And I can see_

_Chances are the fascination_

_Chances won't escape from me_

_Chances are only what we make them_

_And all I need_

Percy sang the song beautifully and his voice was better than ever before. It was a perfect song. I know the song summed up how Percy didn't need anything, but a chance to be with me, a chance for us to make it through life together. I loved him more than anything; I knew this summer, this next year and throughout our lives as long as we had the chance to be together we would. All we need is love and we had an endless supply of that.

_**AN: I hope you enjoyed this chapter and this story. Thanks to all the readers and reviewers. This story had more reviews than any of my previous stories. There will be another story in this series. Thank you to everyone who asked for me to continue this series. I feel good that many people liked this series of stories. I do have an idea for the next story so I hope everyone enjoys it, thanks again.**_


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